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T!,m^RSITY  OF  NC  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022229385 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


From  the  Library  of 
GERTRUDE  WEIL 

1879-1971 


Y  c  ''-  ( tt<c*^  . 


;  '  vis  .  ■ 


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I  SPREAD  THE  UMBRELLA  AND  SAT  ON  THE  FLOOR  OF  THE  BOAT.^ 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT; 


OR, 


HOW  WE  EXPLORED  THE 
PEQUONSET  RIVER. 


,■      BY 

WALLACE  P.   STANLEY. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   BY  HENRY  N.    CAMY. 


CHICAGO: 

TELFORD-CLARKE   CO. 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

Bet-ford,  Ci-arke  &  Co, 

1888. 


B.    CONKEY    CO.,    PRINTERS    AND    BINDERS,   CHICAOO. 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I  Spread  the   Umbrella  and  Sat  on  the   Floor  of 

the  Boat,  .....  Frontispiece 

PAGE. 

A  Fellow  Leaning  on  the  Rail  Fishing,      -            -            -  in 

A  Little  One-Story  House,  .....  165 
A  Scow  was  L^ing  Close  in  to  the  Shore  and  They  Were 

Heaping  Hay  on  It,          .....  361 

As  Pretty  a  View  as  We  had  Seen  that  Day,             -           -  73 

Every  Few  Moments  a  Frog  Would  Let  Himself  Off,    -"  92 

He  Landed  Near  the  Bottom  of  the  Slope,      -            -            -  97 

"Hello!"  I  Cried,   "Here's  Somebody's  Anchor!"           -  312 

Here's  Something  That  Doesn't  Need  Winding  Up,     -            -  161 

Indian  Pipe,            .......  183 

It  Lifted  Me  'most  Out  of  My  Shoes,     ...            -  158 

It  was  a  Queer  Looking  Affair  for  a  Mill,  -  -  211 
It  was   Curious  to  Watch  the  Changes   in    the   Lighted 

Space  Just  Ahead  of  Us,            ....  341 

It  was  'most  as  Heavy  as  Our  Mast,       ....  277 

Joe  Picked  Up  a  Couple  of  Stones,    ...            -  206 

Joe  Sprang  Out  From  the  Edge,   -            -            -            -  97 

Joe  Went  Overboard  With  a  Slump,              -            -            -  101 

Night  Hawks  Were  Sailing  and  Plunging  Far  Above,            -  261 

Nobody  at  Home  To-day,  I  Should  Say,  Remarked  Joe,  251 
"Now,"  Cried  Joe;  and  We  Brought  Down  the  Sticks  With 

All  Our  Force,            -            -            ,            -            -            -  355 

Our  Two  Little  White  Houses,          ....  85 

Pews  Free,        ._-..---  230 

Playing  "Tens,"  .......  272 

The  Boundary  Stqne,  -  -  •  -  -  -3-1 


LIST  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGfi. 

The  Channel  Went  Right  Off  at  Right  Angles,             -  63 

The  Old  Man  Turned  and  Surveyed  Us,     -           -           -  23 

The  Old  Orchard,      -           -           -           -           -           -           .  243 

The  Raft  Was  Hardly  Buoyant  Enough  For  Two,          -  297 

The  Sea,            -           -           -           -           -  >..     "-           -           -  32 

The  Smallest  Ferry-Boat  on  Record,                       -           -  69 

The  Spring,       -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -  119 

The    Water    Poured    Into    the    Buckets  and    the    Wheel 

Began  to  Turn  Slowly,  -----  237 

'Twas  a  Big  Snapping  Turtle,        -  324 

'Twas  A  Pretty    Respectable  Cavern,  Though,  to  Look  at 

from  the  Outside,            -  187 

'Twas  Full  of  Mossy  Stones,  With  Big  Rocks  Crowding  in,  231 

'Twas  Wonderful  How  His  Head  Plunged  Out.    -            -  326 

There  Were  Faces,  Too,        -            ■            -           -            -            -  285 

We  Both  Laid  Hold  of  the  Painter  ;  and  After  the  Start 

She  Slid  Along  Like  a  Sled,     -  47 

We  Brought  the  Boat  into  the  Cove,    .           -           -           -  115 

We  Each  Grabbed  a  Handle  of  the  Big  Bag,       -           -  19 

We  Looked  Like  Drowned  Rats,   -----  281 

We'll  Haul  Her  Over,  ------  39 

When  We  Came  to  a  Bend  He'd  Call  "  Port  "  or  "  Starboard,"  127 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT; 


HOW  WE  EXPLORED  THE  PEQUONSET  RIVER. 


CHAPTER  I. 


We  didn't  know  it  was  the  Pequonset  River  when 
we  set  out  to  explore  it.  You  see,  it  was  the  upper 
part  of  Pierhaven  River,  which  wasn't  really  a 
river  at  all,  but  an  arm  of  Mattaconsett  Bay.  It 
ran  up  about  two  miles  from  the  bay,  then  came 
the  town  of  Pierhaven,  on  the  east  side  ;  and  there 
it  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  across. 

Just  above  the  town  it  narrowed;  and  this  was 
where  the  bridges  went  across- — first  the  carriage 
bridge;  then,  a  little  further  north,  the  railway 
bridge  with  its  heavy  truss-timbers  Then  it  spreaa 
out  again,  wider  than  ever,  but  pretty  shallow,  ex 
cept  in  the  channel,  and  ran  up  a  couple  of  miles 

9 


to  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

further  to  Wylie's  bridge,  and  beyond  here  it  was  a 
different  thing  altogether  —  only  a  few  yards  wide, 
and  winding  about  like  any  up-country  river  ;  but 
its  water  was  still  salt,  and  the  current  ran  six  hours 
up  and  six  hours  down,  according  to  the  tide.  It 
was  a  strong  current,  too  ;  it  went  past  the  wharves 
as  fast  as  one  could  walk,  and  it  was  no  light  job 
to  pull  a  boat  against  it. 

But  we  knew  that  far  above  Wylie's  bridge,  in 
regions  remote  and  unknown  to  us,  there  were 
a  mill-dam,  a  pond,  and  an  old  cotton-mill  —  one 
of  the  oldest  in  the  country.  This  was  the  "Cler- 
mont Mill";  but  we  had  always  heard  it  spoken  of 
as  "Shad  Factory,"  because  the  shad  had  to  stop 
at  that  dam  when  they  ran  up  from  the  bay  in  the 
spring. 

Now,  we  had  a  boat,  Joe  Thurston  and  I;  in 
fact,  we  have  her  yet ;  but  the  time  I  speak  of,  early 
last  summer,  we  had  owned  her  less  than  six  weeks. 
She  was  a  flat-bottomed  skiff,  thirteen  feet  lono-  ■ 
we  were  glad  to  pay  Tom  Rollins  five  dollars  each 
for  her ;  for,  after  two  years  in  his  service,  she  was 
still  as  staunch  as  ever. 

The  Triton,  as  we  called  her,  was  not  famed  as 
a  fast  boat ;  but,  by  each  taking  an  oar,  we  could 
get  up  a  speed  which  suited  us  very  well,  especially 
if  wind  and  tide  were  favorable.  Then,  however, 
we  usually  left  off  rowing,  and  raised  our  sail,  a 
sprit-rigged  affair,  too  small  to  be  of  much  use  in 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  u 

going  to  windward  ;  but,  with  a  good  breeze  on  the 
quarter,  it  would  carry  us  at  a  pretty  fair  rate. 

By  the  time  we  were  well  posted  in  the  Tritons 
ways  —  had  fished  from  her  for  "scup"  at  Sauket 
Point,  and  for  "  tautog  "  near  the  bridges ;  had  gone 
clamming  at  Upton's  Bend,  and  crabbing  around 
Bowers'  Island  ;  and  had  skirted  all  the  shores  on 
both  sides  within  two  or  three  miles  of  our  landing- 
place —  the  summer  vacation  set  in,  and  with  more 
time  on  our  hands,  we  began  to  think  of  lengthen- 
ing our  trips. 

It  was  Joe  who  proposed  that  we  should  camp 
out  for  a  few  days  on  "  Slade's  Island,"  some  dis- 
tance above  the  bridges.  Some  fishermen  made 
their  home  there  every  spring,  while  the  shad  were 
running,  so  as  to.  look  out  for  their  nets  near  by; 
and  no  doubt  this  gave  Joe  his  idea.  I  was  well 
enough  pleased  with  the  notion,  and  went  to  look 
at  the  county  map. 

I  always  like  to  have  a  map  when  I  go  anywhere. 
You  can  see  how  far  you've  got,  and  what  there  is 
ahead  of  you,  and  can  judge  to  what  point  you  can 
go,  and  get  back  by  dark  ;  you  see  where  the  cross- 
roads will  bring  you  out,  where  you  can  cut  off,  and 
whether  you  can  go  home  by  some  other  way.  I 
had.  half-a-dozen  little  maps  all  traced;  one  of  the 
Wensdale  turnpike  and  the  connecting  roads, 
another  of  the  country  toward  Pocannoc  Hill,  and 
so  on ;  so  all  I  had  to  do  when  I  went  on  a  tramp, 


/i  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

was  to  tuck  the  map  of  the  region  I  was  going 
over  into  my  pocket,  and  I  was  all  right.  I  had 
found  some  things,  too,  and  marked  them  down, 
that  weren't  on  the  printed  one. 

But,  though  the  map-makers  got  the  roads  and 
other  inland  things  about  as  they  were,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  they  were  rather  careless  when  they 
came  to  the  shore.  They  would  fix  on  some  long 
point,  and  mark  that  down  in  its  place,  and  then 
measure  off,  and  put  down  another  a  mile  or  so 
away  ; —  and  they  seemed  to  wiggle  their  pencils 
along  anyhow  for  the  part  that  came  between.  I 
suppose  they  were  in  a  hurry  and  thought  it  didn't 
matter, —  and  it  doesrit  matter  for  Pierhaven  River; 
for  Joe  and  I  fixed  all  that. 

Of  course  I  traced  it  off  the  big  map,  as  soon 
as  we  got  the  boat ;  and  there's  a  good  deal  to 
it,  what  with  wide  places  and  narrow  places,  bends, 
branches  and  islands.  Well,  as  you  might  know,  we 
kept  finding  that  where  the  water  notched  in  a 
little,  it  wouldn't  be  set  down ;  and  where  the  land 
rounded  out  a  little,  they'd  have  it  go  straight ;  but, 
as  I  was  saying,  we  attended  to  all  those  places ; 
and  we  put  down  where  the  bottom  was  sandy,  and 
where  there  was  eel-grass,  the  gravelly  shores  and 
muddy  shores,  and  the  good  places  to  dig  clams 
and  catch  fiddler-crabs,  and  the  springs  of  fresh 
water,  and  everything  that  was  of  any  use  ;  so  that 
I  had  hard  work  to  print  fine  enough  to  get  it  all 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT,  13 

on  ;  and  then,   I   tell  you,  we  had  a  regular  chart 
that  was  worth  something. 

We  hadn't  paid  .much  attention  yet  to  the  region 
above  the  bridges ;  for  one  thing,  it  wasn't  easy  to 
get  there  and  back,  with  the  tide  rushing  and  roar- 
ing between  the  piers,  except  at  slack  water ;  and 
then  there  wasn't  anything  particular  to  draw  us 
there.  You  could  see  eel-grass  trailing  along  the 
surface  almost  all  over  it  at  low  tide ;  and  it  was  the 
cruising-ground  of  the  "mud-fleet,"  a  squadron  of 
scows,  square  at  both  ends  and  decked  all  over,  so 
that  they  were  nothing  more  than  floating  plat- 
forms ;  the  crew  raked  the  eel-grass  off  the  bottom 
and  piled  it  on  the  scows  till  it  was  as  high  as 
their  heads,  and  the  deck  was  almost  under  water; 
then  they  carried  it  ashore  and  sold  it  to  farmers  by 
the  cord  for  manure.  The  shores  were  flat  and 
covered  with  salt-grass  and  scrubby  undergrowth; 
and  altogether  it  seemed  somehow  dull  and  stagnant 
compared  with  the  river  below  the  bridges,  with  its 
clear,  deep  water,  crisp  waves,  and  brisk  currents. 

These  things  came  into  my  mind,  as  my  eyes  ran 
along  the  outlines  of  the  river,  to  nearly  the  top  of 
the  map ;  and  I  felt  less  interested  in  the  prospect 
that  Joe's  words  had  opened.  It  came  to  me  that 
the  camping  out  was  really  fche  important  thing,  and 
"  Slade's  Island"  of  little  account. 

Joe  had  followed  me,  of  course ;  and  we  both 
looked  at  the  upper  part,  where  lay  the  island,  and 


14  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

where,  further  up,  the  river  suddenly  narrowed,  be- 
fore it  was  crossed  by  Wylie's  bridge.  Just  at  this 
point  the  State  line  slanted  across,  and  then  every- 
thing stopped  short,  as  though  it  was  the  end  of  the 
world.      It  was  tantalizing. 

"Joe,"  said  I,  "do  you  know  anything  about 
what  there  is  up  beyond?" 

"They  say  that  you  come  to  'Shad  Factory,'  a 
good  ways  up ;  and  I  saw  the  same  that  you  did, 
when  we  walked  through  Pine  Woods  and  around 
over  Wylie's  Bridge,  last  fall." 

We  had  seen  the  river  winding  from  side  to  side 
of  a  broad  stretch  of  low  meadows  covered  with 
coarse  salt-grass,  extending  like  a  valley  between 
rising  ground  and  trees;  behind  which  its  further 
course. was  hidden  about  half  a  mile  north. 

"  And  you  never  heard  how  far  the  river  goes,  or 
where  it  comes  from  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Well,  Joe,  it's  for  us  to  find  out." 


CHAPTER  II. 

It  seemed  to  be  thought  a  rather  odd  and  un- 
heard-of freak,  this  sudden  fancy  of  ours  for  going- 
exploring  into  parts  unknown;  —  but  there  couldn't 
much  fault  be  found  with  it,  after  all.  Nobody 
could  well  expect  us  to  be  drowned  up  in  that 
brook,  after  we  had  been  voyaging  about  on  the 
river  for  weeks  past ;  there  were  no  savages,  or 
even  wild  beasts, — more's  the  pity, — and  it  wasn't 
likely  to  be  enough  of  a  wilderness  to  amount 
to  anything ;  there  would  always  be  some  farmer's 
house  within  a  mile  or  so.  The  worst  that  was 
likely  to  happen  was  exposure  to  wet  weather,  and 
for  that  we  had  lon^  rubber  coats.  It  was  summer- 
time,  and  we  were  tolerably  rugged  chaps,  each 
past  his  fifteenth  year. 

Besides  making  various  preparations  for  our 
expedition,  we  had  to  take  the  tide  into  account, 
before  setting  a  day  for  the  start.  Of  course,  we 
wanted  to  set  out  on  the  besfinnino-  of  the  flood,  so 
as  to  have  the  current  in  our  favor  all  the  way  up 
to  Wylie's  bridge,  and  as  far  beyond  as  it  could 
make  itself  felt  against  the  fresh-water  stream  ;  and 
if  the  tide  was  ebbing  in  the  morning,  we  couldn't 
start  till  towards  noon,  and  the  first  day  would  be 
only  half  a  day. 

*5 


16  OUJ?  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

But  it  turned  out  very  well  for  us  ;  for  by  the  time 
we  were  ready,  the  tide  was  out  late  in  the  after- 
noon, and  consequently  early  in  the  morning,  also ; 
and  it  was  just  time  for  new  moon,  by  all  the 
almanacs. 

So  one  morning,  when  July  was  nearly  half 
through,  Joe  and  I  were  astir  by  daylight.  I  lived 
nearest  the  water,  so  the  sail  and  oars  were  kept 
in  our  woodshed,  and  they  were  as  much  as  I 
cared  to  tackle  for  the  first  load ;  for  we  had  three 
oars, —  a  seven-foot  pair  and  another  short  one  to 
steer  with,  as  it  controlled  the  boat  so  much  better 
than  a  rudder. 

Now  three  oars  are  rather  awkward  things  to 
carry  with  one  arm ;  you  have  to  look  out  and  keep 
them  lapped  and  balanced  just  about  so,  or  they'll 
slip  and  kick  out  crossways,  and  act  as  contrary  as 
if  they  meant  it.  But  I  was  used  to  their  tricks, 
and  dumped  them  all  right  at  the  landing-place  in 
two  minutes'  time. 

There  was  our  little  Triton  waiting  for  us,  that 
was  to  be  our  home  for  a  week  or  more,  and  take 
us  into  places  we  knew  nothing  about ;—  myste- 
rious and  unexplored  regions,  I  liked  to  imagine 
they  were  ;  and  they  were  so  to  us,  anyway.  I 
loosened  the  stern  mooring  line,  and  hauled  her  in 
to  the  ladder  by  the  painter.  The  tide  was  so  low 
that  when  I  stepped  aboard,  she  touched  bottom ; 
she  was  paved  all  over  with  big  drops  of  dew,  but 


0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  17 

there  wasn't  a  particle  of  salt  water  in  her;  Joe  and 
I  had  spent  half  a  day  caulking,  and  we  did  it  up 
in  good  shape.  I  took  the  sponge  from  the  locker, 
and  wiped  her  off. 

When  I  went  up  to  get  the  oars,  there  was  Joe 
starting  down  the  wharf,  lugging  along  a  tremen- 
dous traveling-bag  covered  with  black  waterproof 
cloth ;  just  as  I  caught  sight  of  him  he  stopped  to 
change  hands.  He  took  off  his  hat  and  gave  it  a 
swing. 

"  How's  tide?"  he  sung  out. 

"  Chock  low  ! "  I  answered.  In  a  minute  more  he 
set  his  bag  down  on  the  cap-log,  and  wiped  his  face. 

"Where  shall  I  check  it  to?"  I  asked. 

"  Sources  of  the  Pierhaven  River!     Just  heft  it." 

"Well,  it'll  be  lighter  when  we  come  back";  and 
I  tied  the  end  of  the  painter  to  it,  while  Joe  went 
down  the  ladder.  I  lowered  him  the  bag,  and  the 
other  things  ;  and  when  he  had  stowed  them  away 
I  fastened  the  painter,  and  we  went  up  home  for 
the  rest  of  our  cargo. 

No  one  else  was  on  the  street ;  but  we  heard  one 
or  two  window-blinds  bang,  and  saw  the  smoke 
curling  out  of  the  chimneys  all  around.  The  sun- 
beams were  just  poking  through  the  gold-colored 
clouds  and  slanting  across  the  roofs,  making  the 
windows  flash  as  though  they  were  afire. 

"  I  wonder  where  we'll  see  the  sun  rise  to-mor- 
row !"  said  Joe. 


iS  0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

"  That's  so  !  "  said  I. 

A  couple  of  carpenters  turned  the  corner,  carry- 
ing their  tools  and  smoking  their  pipes ;  barely 
glancing  at  us  as  they  strode  by.  They  didn't 
know  they  had  met  an  exploring  expedition ! 

I  had  started  the  fire  when  I  first  came  down ; 
and  now  our  good-natured  old  "  Peggy"  was  bust- 
ling- about  the  kitchen. 

"An'  the  great  voyagin'  travelers  is  goin'  to 
start !  It's  a  foine  day  ye  have.  Will  ye  be  stayin' 
to  breakfast?" 

"No,"  said  I,  "it's  'most  five  o'clock,  and  we 
must  be  off.     Come,  on,  Joe,  and  help  fill  the  jug." 

"Well,— but  hold  on,"  said  Joe.  "We  don't 
know  just  how  long  we'll  be  gone  ;  and  we  might 
as  well  save  taking  anything  out  of  the  bags  this 
morning.     The  tide  hasn't  turned  yet." 

Joe  had  caught  sight  of  the  smoking  griddle; 
and  I  knew  he  liked  hot  flapjacks. 

"  I'll  have  the  cakes  all  hot  for  yez  in  wan  minit." 

I  didn't  feel  as  though  I  wanted  to  eat  anything 
at  all ;  but  I  saw  there  was  some  sense  in  what  Joe 
had  said,  so  we  sat  right  down  at  the  kitchen  table ; 
and  when  I  had  once  begun  I  got  along  very  well. 
And  Joe!  I  wish  I  had  kept  count  of  his  flapjacks, 
but  I  didn't  think  of  it  till  too  late. 

I  had  bought  a  bag  like  Joe's, —  he  had  his  be- 
fore,—  and  it  was  just  the  thing.  I  had  crowded 
it  out  even  bigger  than  Joe's,  but  then  he  was  there 


WE  EACH  GRABBED  A  HANDLE  OF  THE  BIG  BAG. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  21 

to  help  tote  it.  We  filled  the  jug, — ■  it  wasn't  a 
very  big  one,  for  we  were  going  to  sail  on  fresh 
water, —  and  then  I  went  to  get  the  blankets. 

We  each  grabbed  a  handle  of  the  big  bag  ;  Joe 
picked  up  the  jug  with  his  other  hand,  while  I 
carried  a  tin  kettle  crammed  full  of  things,  and 
a  big  umbrella  ;  and  each  of  us  had  a  rolled-up 
blanket  tucked  under  his  arm.  We  staesfered 
off,  trying  to  keep  step  ;  and  Peggy  called  out  of 
the  window,  "A  pleasant  voyage  and  safe  return 
to  yez!" 

We  were  afraid  some  of  our  fellows  might  hap- 
pen along  and  ''guy"  us ;  but  the  only  one  we  met 
was  old  Captain  Eldridge;  and  he  laughed  and 
said,  "Movin'  day,  is  it?"  and  we  said,  "Yes,  sir;" 
and  trudged  right  along.  When  we  turned  down 
toward  the  wharf,  we  felt  it  was  no  use  trying  to  put 
"  it  straight  through ;  so  we  let  everything  down,  and 
took  a  halt. 

" My  arms  ache  fit  for  four!"  said  Joe.  "Wish 
I  had  four,  about  now!" 

"Well,"  said  I,  "the  Triton  '11  carry  all  these, 
and  us  besides,  for  miles  and  miles." 

"  Maybe,"  returned  Joe ;  "  but  I  reckon  we'll  have 
done  a  good  stiff  pile  of  rowing  by  that  time." 

We  found  the  tide  was  beoqnningr  to  come  in  ; 
and  we  hurried  things  aboard,  and  cast  off  in  short 
order.  There  wasn't  any  too  much  room  in  the 
Triton^  with   such   a  load;   but   there  was   room 


22  O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T, 

enough ;  and  we  each  took  an  oar,  and  pulled  away 
for  the  channel. 

My  !  but  wasn't  it  lovely  !  The  sun  shone  bright 
and  hot,  but  the  air  was  cool  and  crisp,  with  a  little 
breeze ;  just  enough  to  crinkle  up  the  reflections  of 
the  houses  and  trees,  and  set  them  all  a-shimmer- 
ing; — and  there  was  that  delightful  salty  smell 
that  comes  from  the  kelp  and  sea-weed  when  the 
tide  is  out. 

There  was  Jake  Bisbee,  pushing  his  chubby  boat 
around  Bowers'  Island,  looking  for  crabs  ;  and  we 
were  glad  of  a  chance  to  yell. 

"  Hello-o-o  !  what  luck  ? " 

The  old  man  turned  and  surveyed  us,  with  his 
spear  half-raised. 

"  Middlin'—  Going  fishin'?" 

"  We're  going  exploring  ! "     I  shouted. 

■*  Goin'  which?" 

"Yes,  we're  going  fishing.'"  called  out  Joe. 
"Among  other  things,"  he  added,  in  a  lower  tone. 

We  passed  the  island,  and  the  upper  wharves, 
where  lay  a  couple  of  coal-schooners  and  the  Sylph, 
an  old  white  tow-boat  which  wandered  about  the 
bay,  and  now  and  then  appeared  in  our  river, 
and  began  to  draw  near  to  the  bridges.  We  saw, 
as  we  expected,  that  the  current  was  still  flowing 
down  toward  us  from  them  ; —  and  yet  we  had  cer- 
tainly just  seen  that  the  water  was  slowly  creeping 
up  the  stones  of  the  wharf. 


THE  OLD  MAN  TURNED  AND  SURVEYED  US. 


CHAPTER  III. 

You  see,  it  was  this  way :  The  passage  at  the 
bridges  was  narrow,  considering  the  size  of  the 
river  above  and  below  ;  and  during"  ebb  the  out- 
flow from  above  could  not  keep  pace  with  the  with- 
drawal of  water  from  the  lower  side;  and  the 
difference  of  level  between  the  surface  above  and 
below  kept  gi  owing  greater,  till  at  low  water  it 
amounted  to  several  feet,  so  that  the  current  rushed 
down  between  the  piers,  with  quite  a  savage  roar- 
ing, boiling,  and  splashing ;  there  were  not  many 
who  cared  to  "shoot"  it  in  a  small  boat  at  such 
times. 

Then,  when  the  tide  began  to  "  come  in,"  it  would 
have  to  rise  for  some  time,  before  meeting  the  water 
above  the  bridges  on  the  same  level;  and  meanwhile 
the  downward  flow  would  keep  on,  though  growing 
less  rapid  as  the  tide  rose.  Of  course,  it  followed 
from  all  this  that  the  rise  and  fall  on  the  shores  was 
decidedly  less  above  the  bridges  than  below. 

We  found  the  current  tolerably  gentle,  and  made 
up  our  minds  to  pull  through  against  it ;  for  it  would 
soon  turn,  and  the  earlier  we  got  by,  the  longer  the 
tide  would  favor  us  on  our  way  up. 

"  I'll  send  her  through,"  said  Joe. 

"  All  right,"  and  I  gave  him  my  oar,  stepped  to 

25 


26  O UR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

the  stern,  and  shipped  the  steering-oar ;  for  in  the 
narrow  space  between  the  piers  the  stream  would 
"slew"  the  bow  around  "in  no  time,"  if  she  wasn't 
pointed  straight. 

The  bridge  stood  on  three  stone  piers,  making 
four  openings  ;  over  the  westernmost  of  which  was 
the  wheel-house  of  the  tide-mill.  The  railroad 
bridge  went  across  a  few  rods  further  north. 

I  made  for  the  opening  between  the  two  eastern 
piers.  Joe  urged  us  on  without  much  trouble  till 
within  twenty  feet  of  the  bridge  ;  then  came  the  tug. 
He  instinctively  pulled  harder,  to  keep  up  the  speed. 

"  Don't  strain  yourself,  or  you'll  give  out ;  just 
pull  easy,  and  you'll  fetch  it ;  we're  gaining." 

Joe  relaxed  from  his  spurt ;  and  we  did  still  gain, 
but  slowly  enough  ;  we  seemed  to  make  only  two 
or  three  inches  a  stroke.  "  I'm  good  f°r  half  an 
hour,  at  this  rate  ! "  he  declared. 

The  shadow  of  the  bridge  fell  across  the  bow  ;  it 
crept  along  over  the  bags  and  came  marching  across 
Joe's  hat.  He  pulled  just  right ;  calmly  and  stead- 
ily as  a  steam-engine.  The  shade  mounted  to  my 
knees, —  we  were  fairly  under. 

"I  like  this,"  said  he;  "it's  more  comfortable 
out  of  the  sun." 

The  smooth  black  water  slid  beneath  us  with  a 
gentle  rippling  noise,  and  gurgled  against  the  piers 
on  either  side  ;  the  left  rowlock  kept  giving  out  a 
little  squeak,  as  regularly  as  a  clock, 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  27 

Suddenly  came  the  loud  hollow  thump  and  rattle 
of  a  team,  on  the  boards  right  over  our  heads ;  it 
rumbled  away  over  the  other  arches  and  was  gone. 

Now  the  sunlight  struck  on  the  forward  end. 
"'Most  through,  Joe!" 

"  If  I  must  come  out  of  the  shade,  I'll  pitch  in !" 
he  said  ;  and  with  half-a-dozen  mighty  strokes  we 
were  through.  This  was  more  than  half  the  battle  ; 
for  the  piers  of  the  railroad  bridge  were  fewer  and 
further  apart,  and  the  current,  having  freer  course, 
was  more  gentle.  In  less  than  two  minutes  we  were 
fairly  beyond  the  bridges. 

"  Now  I'll  spell  you  and  give  you  a  chance  to 
rest,"  and  I  took  the  oars,  while  Joe  sat  in  the  stern 
and  mopped  himself. 

In  ten  minutes'  more  pulling,  we  had  made  such 
progress  that  the  roar  of  the  six  o'clock  train,  as  it 
crossed  the  river  on  its  way  to  the  city,  came  over 
the  water  with  a  muffled  and  distant  sound,  which 
made  the  stillness  seem  greater  than  ever  when  it 
had  gone  by.  The  light  northerly  air  had  at  last 
dropped  away  altogether,  and  the  surface  was  like 
glass,  except  for  the  double  row  of  curdling  circles 
which  narrowed  off  in  our  wake. 

I  was  gazing  dreamily  at  some  seaweed-rakers, 
away  to  the  east,  and  thinking  it  was  going  to  be  a 
pretty  hot  day,  when  suddenly  there  was  a  faint 
rustling  beneath,  and  the  next  stroke  was  as  if 
pulled  in  molasses. 


28  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"  Where  're  you  steering  to  ?  you've  run  us  into 
the  eel-grass  ! " 

"  That's  so  !  I  wasn't  looking  for  it  so  soon.  We 
can't  be  far  from  the  channel,"  and  he  stood  up  to 
take  a  survey.  "  I  see  it !  Back  her  out ;  —  fetch 
a  stroke  or  two  with  your  starboard  oar, —  now  give 
way ! "  and  presently  we  were  in  a  sort  of  lane  of 
clear  water,  on  either  side  of  which  the  eel-grass 
dotted  the  surface  as  far  as  we  could  see.  Near 
by,  the  long,  slimy,  yellowish-green  ribbons  were  in 
sight,  lying  in  a  closely-packed  mass,  and  all  point- 
ing straight  down  stream  as  smoothly  as  though 
they  had  been  combed.  Now  and  then  a  big  bluish- 
green  crab,  sunning  himself  cosily  on  the  top,  would 
scuttle  away  into  the  depths  as  we  went  by. 

"What  time  is  it?"  I  asked. 

Joe  drew  forth  his  Waterbury  watch,  and  ans- 
wered, "  Twelve  minutes  past.  I'll  take  the  oars 
again  at  quarter  past." 

He  had  not  been  rowing  long,  when  dark  bands 
of  ripple  began  shifting  over  the  river  behind  us, 
and  we  soon  felt  a  refreshing  little  puff  from  the 
south. 

"  Let's  spread  the  sail,"  said  Joe. 

There  wasn't  enough  wind  to  give  us  much  head- 
way ;  but  my  next  turn  at  the  oars  would  be  due  in 
a  little  while,  and  I  had  no  objections  to  make  to 
Joe's  proposal.  The  mast  was  shipped  and  the 
sprit  dropped  into  the  "snotter";  the  sheet  was 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  29 

belayed,  and  we  slipped  noiselessly  along  up  the 
the  channel. 

The  breeze  was  so  light  and  fitful  that  the  sail 
kept  dropping  inboard  ;  so  Joe  took  an  oar  and 
"boomed  out"  the  after  clew.  Then  he  began  to 
rearrange  things.  We  had  adjusted  the  forward 
thwart  so  it  could  be  easily  taken  out ;  he  now  lifted 
it  from  its  bearings  and  wedged  it  across  with  the 
edge  upward,  so  that  it  braced  the  blankets  which 
he  stowed  against  it  and  the  side  of  the  boat  in 
such  fashion  as  to  make  quite  a  passable  lounging 
place.  Then  he  settled  down  with  his  hat  off  and 
his  head  in  the  shade  of  the  sail,  looking  as  com- 
fortable as  a  cat  loaded  with  a  full  charge  of 
cream. 

I  spread  the  old  umbrella,  and  sat  on  the  floor  of 
the  boat,  with  my  arm  resting  on  the  locker ;  and 
along  we  drifted,  not  more  than  three-fourths  awake. 
I  don't  suppose  we  were  a  very  ship-shape  looking 
crew ;  but  none  of  the  fellows  were  there  to  make 
remarks,  and  we  never  pretended  to  man-of-war 
style,  anyway. 

After  half-an-hour  or  so  of  this,  we  got  into  a 
long,  straight  stretch  of  channel ;  and  I  was  sleepily 
watching  the  little  eddies  curling  away  in  our  wake, 
when  all  at  once  the  breeze  began  to  freshen.  The 
umbrella,  which  I  had  let  go  of,  rolled  over  and 
nearly  went  overboard,  while  the  oar  dropped  from 
the  sail  and  fell  into  the  boat  with  a  whang  and  a 


30  0  UR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

rattle  ;  making  Joe  jump,  and  then  look  very  wide- 
awake and  indifferent. 

"Wake  up,  Joe,  and  bear  a  hand!"  I  laughed, 
'*■  the  old  ship'll  weather  it  yet ! " 

"Wake  up  yourself!"  he  returned,  "and  take  a 
reef  in  that  old  parachute.  There's  Slade's  island, 
on  the  lee  bow,"  he  continued.  "  We're  'most  half 
way  to  Wylie's  bridge.  I'll  take  the  helm,  if  you 
like." 

So  I  took  possession  of  the  lair  in  the  bow,  and 
readjusted  the  blankets  to  fit  my  own  particular 
sprawl. 

The  wind  was  still  only  moderate  ;  and  presently 
I  had  an  idea. 

"  We'll  rig  out  a  spinnaker,  and  go  wing-and- 
wing ! "  and  I  picked  up  the  big"  umbrella,  which 
Joe  had  disdained,  and  unfurled  it  once  more  to 
the  breeze,  securing  it  with  twine  at  the  port  side 
so  as  to  balance  the  one-sided  pull  of  the  sail. 
Now  the  strain  on  the  steering-oar  was  eased,  and 
we  rippled  along  at  a  pretty  good  rate. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  river  was  about  half-a-mile  wide.  On  the 
west  side  stretched  the  dense,  dark-green  "  Pine 
Woods,"  which  came  nearer  to  the  idea  of  a  forest 
than  anything  else  within  reach  of  our  tramps  ;  it 
was  pleasant  there,  too,  with  the  clean  brown 
needles  underfoot,  and  no  underbrush  to  scrape 
through  ;  and  in  some  places  there  were  lots  of 
wintergreen  leaves  and  berries.  There  was  not  a 
house  to  be  seen  ;  and  on  the  east  side,  which  was 
a  good  deal  further  from  where  we  were,  there  were 
only  a  few  roofs,  here  and  there  ;  it  seemed  to  be 
mostly  oak  and  hickory  woods.  The  steeples  were 
small  and  dim,  far  away  to  the  south ;  and  all 
arounol,  the  eel-grass  kept  the  water  still  as  a  duck- 
pond. 

"  You  wouldn't  think,  to  see  it  now,"  said  I,  "  that 
so  many  big  ships  had  come  down   through  here." 

"I  believe  you!"  said  Joe.  "I  wish  they  had 
kept  it  up  long  enough  for  us  to  have  seen  it." 

We  were  born  just  too  late  to  know  much  about 
Rodman  Brewster's  ship-yard  except  by  hearsay. 
We  knew  that  it  lay  just  southwest  of  Wylie's 
bridoe,  with  the  Pine  Woods  at  its  back;  and  that 
in  the  old  whaling  days  it  had  sent  ship  after  ship 
to  be  fitted  out  at  the  Pierhaven  wharves, —  from 

31 


32 


O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T. 


which  they  sailed  away  to  the  very  ends  of  the 
earth.  Over  a  hundred  and  thirty  vessels  had 
been  launched  from  that  yard. 

It  did  seem  strange  to  think  of  those  big  sea- 
going craft  first  taking  the  water  away  up  here  in 


THE  SEA. 

the  country,  where  it  seemed  like  a  land-locked 
pond.  There  were  two  ship-yards  down  at  Pierhaven 
and  they  were  busy  right  along  for  a  good  many 
years;  but  the  biggest  ship  that  ever  sailed  from 
that  port — the  Sea,  of  900  tons  —  was  built  at 
Brewster's  yard. 

Wouldn't  I  like  to  have  seen  her  !  coming  slowly 
down  on  the  top  of  the  flood-tide,  towering  tall  and 
black,  with  no  ballast  or  cargo  to  weight  her 
down, — tugged    along  by  row-boats,  and  sticking 


0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  33 

fast  in  the  mud  at  ebb.  It  took  several  days  to  get 
her  down  to  Pierhaven. 

After  awhile  the  shores  began  to  draw  nearer 
together,  and  Wylie's  Bridge  was  in  plain  sight,  not 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

"  Say  good  bye  to  New  Jersey,  Joe,"  said  I ;-  "the 
line  runs  across  about  here." 

"I  wonder  if  that  isn't  the  boundary  stone?" 
said  Joe,  pointing  ahead. 

There  was  a  post  on  the  eastern  shore,  some  dis- 
tance off ;  but  we  couldn't  be  sure  whether  it  was 
wood  or  stone.  It  might  be  nothing  more  than  an 
ordinary  mooring  post. 

"Just  take  the  helm  a  minute,  and  I'll  soon  find 
out,"  and  Joe  opened  his  bag,  and  after  a  little  rum- 
maging, produced  a  small  red  leather  case,  which  I 
knew  held  his  pocket  spy-glass.  It  might  better  be 
called  a  single-barreled  opera-glass  ;  as  it  was  made 
on  that  plan,  having  only  two  lenses  ;  and,  of  course, 
it  was  not  a  very  powerful  instrument ;  but  it  was 
equal  to  this  occasion. 

"  It  is  the  boundary  stone,"  he  exclaimed,  and  he 
handed  the  Mass  to  me. 

o 

There  it  stood,  a  few  feet  above  the  high-water 
mark ;  a  square  stone  post,  looking  almost  white 
against  the  background  of  bayberry  bushes  and 
scrub  oaks.  The  river  had  narrowed  so  rapidly 
that  the  shores  at  this  point  were  only  a  few  rods 
apart;  —  and  in  less  than  two  minutes  we  furled  the 


34 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


umbrella  and  unshipped  the  sprit,  and  the  Tritoris 
bow  was  run  ashore  opposite  the  landmark. 


THE  BOUNDARY  STONE. 

When  ever  boys  come  across  a  boundary  stone, 
they  have  to  stand  astride  of  the  line  ;  and,  of  course, 
that  is  what  we  did,  trying  to  realize  to  the  full  the 
proud  sensation  of  standing  in  two  States  at  once. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  35 

Then  we  reembarked  ;  and,  leaving  our  native  ter- 
ritory, pushed  away  for  the  unexplored  wilds  to  the 
north. 

This  spot,  however,  looked  as  peaceful  and  com- 
monplace as  possible  ;  with  the  square  white  cupola 
of  a  little  country  church  on  the  right,  and  a 
few  quiet  old  houses  grouped  around  among  the 
trees  ;  and  it  was  not  unknown  to  Joe  and  me,  we 
having  walked  around  past  here  by  land,  as  I  have 
said. 

On  the  left  was  the  site  of  the  old  ship-yard, 
and  the  large  old-fashioned  mansion  of  the  master- 
builder,  further  back,  across  the  road. 

In  front,  and  close  by,  was  the  bridge  ;  and  after 
unshipping  the  mast,  Joe  took  the  oars  again,  and 
pulled  her  through.  It  was  quite  a  different  job 
from  that  at  the  first  bridge.  We  could  see  that 
there  was  a  very  slow  current  in  the  direction  we 
were  going. 

We  were  now  in  a  different  region  altogether.  It 
was  no  longer  like  a  big  pond  ;  but  it  wasn't  much 
like  a  river,  either.  It  seemed  more  like  a  deep, 
wide  ditch,  than  anything  else,  except  that  it  kept 
crooking.  The  tide  being  low,  there  were  the 
muddy  banks  rising  a  yard  above  the  water  on 
either  hand,  with  a  tall  crop  of  salt-grass  on  the 
top  ;  so  that  as  we  sat  on  the  boat,  we  could  see 
nothing  but  the  short  stretch  of  water  before  and 
behind.     When  we  stood  up,  we  could  see  the  flat 


S6  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

valley*- of  bright  green,  waving  grass,  extending 
north  for  two  or  three  miles. 

"Do  you  suppose  it's  fresh  yet?"  inquired  Joe. 

"Not  very  likely,  I  should  think;  the  shore 
'round  here  looks  pretty  salty." 

"  Yes ;  but  the  tide's  out,  and  this  water  must 
have  come  from  a  good  way  up.  I'll  try  it,  any- 
way ! 

So  he  scooped  up  a  cupful  ;  but  he  didn't  swal- 
low much. 

"Agh!"  he  said,  "I'd  rather  have  it  clear  salt 
than  this  stuff." 

"  Never  mind,"  I  told  him,  "  there's  plenty  in  the 

The  jug  had  been  in  the  shade,  up  in  the  "fore- 
peak,"  as  we  called  it ;  and  we  both  found  it  as 
good  as  we  wanted. 

"You  thought  to  change  the  cork,  this  time," 
observed  Joe. 

"  You  better  believe  !  "  said  I. 

The  jug  had  once  been  used  for  vinegar;  and 
the  first  time  I  carried  fresh  water  in  it,  when  we 
made  a  voyage  down  the  river,  one  Saturday,  the 
same  old  vinegar  stopple  was  left  in  ',  so  when  we 
came  to  drink,  the  water  "tasted"  just  enough  to 
ruin  it;  —  but  we  were  so  thirsty,  that  we  had  to 
drink  nearly,  all  of  it,  to  stop  our  drought  ;  though 
I'd  'most  as  lief  have  taken  medicine  —  some  kinds 
I'd  rather. 


CHAPTER  V. 

I  picked  up  the  oars  again  ;  and  after  rowing 
easterly  a  few  rods,  we  rounded  a  bend,  and 
another  stretch  opened,  leading  north-west. 

"  It'll  be  dull  work,  rowing  around  all  these  bends; 
we'll  have  to  £0  three  miles  to  make  one.  Let's 
shake  out  the  sail  again,"  I  proposed. 

We  had  the  wind  free  up  that  reach,  and  made 
fair  progress ;  though  the  bank  partly  becalmed  the 
lower  part  of  the  sail ;  but  pretty  soon  we  came  to 
the  next  turn,  which  curved  sharply,, and  ran  a  little 
to  the  south  of  east,  bringing  the  wind  forward  of 
the  beam.  The  Triton  didn't  make  very  good 
headway  now ;  and  though  her  flat  side  held  her 
some,  she  made  enough  leeway  to  get  jammed  up 
against  the  north  bank  in  a  minute  or  so. 

We  dropped  the  sprit,  and  rowed  to  the  next 
bend  ;  and  then  the  sail  carried  us  up  again  for 
quite  a  long  stretch.  Then  came  a  turn  which  led 
right  back  again  in  the  direction  from  which  we  had 
just  come  ;  but  it  was  a  short  one.  I  drew  the  oar 
inboard. 

"You  shove  her  through  this,  Joe;  and  I'll 
gather  in  the  sail." 

So  I  went  forward  and  held  the  sail  folded  up 
against  the  mast  so  it  wouldn't  hinder  us,  and  Joe 

37 


38       *  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

took  an  oar  and  thrust  it  against  the  bottom, — 
'twasn't  much  over  three  feet  deep, —  and  fetched 
us  through  with  about  a  dozen  shoves.  Then  I  let 
the  sail  spread  again,  and  up  we  went. 

We  kept  on  in  this  way  for  some  time;  sailing 
when  we  could,  and  pushing  when  we  had  to.  On 
two  or  three  long  crosswise  stretches,  we  took  to 
the  oars.  Now  and  then  we  would  stand  up  on 
the  thwarts  to  see  what  our  prospects  were  around 
the  next  bend. 

"There's  getting  to  be  a  sameness  about  this," 
said  Joe. 

"Yes/'  I  assented,  "but  anyway,  we've  discov- 
ered the  crookedest  river  /ever  was  on." 

We  came  to  a  place  where  the  stream  turned  and 
stretched  off  eastwardly  for  quite  a  distance.  Just 
ahead  of  us  a  fence  was  built  down  into  the  water ; 
Joe  stood  up  and  took  a  look. 

"Gracious!"  he  exclaimed,  "this  beats  anything 
yet. 

So  I  got  up  and  looked  too  ;  and  it  did.  For 
when  the  water  got  through  with  its  easterly 
stretch,  it  swept  around  in  a  great  half-circle,  and 
came  back  again  toward  us ;  and  that  fence  went 
down  again  into  it  fifteen  or  twenty  steps  from 
where  we  were.  I  never  saw  so  little  fencing  do 
for  so  much  land  ;  that  big  peninsula — "almost  an 
island"  it  was  indeed, —  must  have  amounted  to  six 
or  seven  acres. 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


39 


"  Isn't  it  mean  ! "  said  Joe. 

"  Yes  !  and  we'll  have  to  row  both 
jLt"  ways,"  I  added. 

The  sail  was  flapping  loose- 
ly ;  and,  drifting  sideways, 
we    brought    up    gently 
against  the  shore. 
"We  shan't  row  either  way!"  suddenly  as- 
serted Joe,  "we'll  haul  her  over!" 
"  Of  course  we  will ! "  I  cried.    "  Joe,  you're 
inspired.     But  let's  lighten  her,  first." 
We  pushed    her  to  the  other 
side     of      the 
!    '    u/-  fence,  where 

the  bank 


was 

more 

shelving, 

and  took  out       , 

the   baes,    the     $j 

sail    and    oars,  jjS 

and    the  jug,     i 

which   we    put    in    \a 

the  shade  of  a  tree 

near    by.       Though 

this  place  was  not  as 


40  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V. 

steep  as  most  others,   we  had  a  hard  tug  to  get 
her  up  on  the  level. 

Joe  laid  hold  of  the  painter,  while  I  took  off 
shoes  and  stockings,  and  pushed  at  the  stern  ;  we 
hitched  her  up  sideways,  first  one  end,  then  the 
other.  When  we  got  her  up,  we  took  off  our  hats 
and  sat  down  under  the  trees  a  little  while. 

'•  I  don't  know  but  it's  harder  work  than  it  would 
have  been  to  row  around,"  said  Joe. 

"  May  be  'tis,"  I  answered,  "but  it  breaks  up  the 
sameness.  And  there  is  a  deal  in  that."  But  I 
think  the  best  of  it  was,  that  we  had  somehow  out- 
witted the  "knurly"  old  river. 

"  You're  not  getting  tired  of  exploring  yet,  are 
you,  Joe?" 

"  Not  a  bit !  but  I  feel  like  exploring  the  lunch- 
bag  more  than  anything  else,  just  now.  But  we'll 
put  her  over  first."  . 

The  rest  of  the  job  didn't  amount  to  very  much ; 
we  slid  her  across  the  smooth  grass  in  short  order, 
and  launched  her,  bow  foremost,  leaving  her  after 
part  ashore  for  the  time  being.  Then  we  sat  down 
by  the  bags  and  took  account  of  our  stock. 

There  were  plenty  of  hard-boiled  eggs,  of  course, 
and  I  had  some  pieces  of  huckleberry  pie,  cut  so 
as  to  roughly  fit  a  tin  kettle;  these  were  overlaid 
with  slices  of  cake,  the  lower  layers  of  which  were 
streaked  a  beautiful  purple  by  the  huckleberry  juice; 
but  they  were  all  the  better  for  that,  to  be  sure ; 


O  UR  I VEEK  AFLOAT.  41 

then  there  were  cookies  and  doughnuts,  and  Joe 
had  a  dozen  corned-beef  sandwiches  and  some  ex- 
tra slices  of  the  beef  in  a  box  by  itself.  From 
these  viands  we  tapered  off,  through  cheese  and 
milk-crackers  to  hard  "pilot-bread,"  or  "hard-tack," 
as  we  called  it,  of  course.  Then  I  had  a  can  of 
salmon,  all  the  way  from  Oregon. 

I  hardly  need  say  that  we  didn't  expect  these 
stores  to  last  us  a  week  or  more  ;  but  our  vision  of 
penetrating  the  unknown  wilds  was  underlaid  by  a 
solid  faith  in  the  unceasing  neighborhood  of  farm- 
houses,  with  all  the  abundance  of  good  things  which 
it  is  their  business  to  supply.  Besides,  we  had  our 
fish-lines  along,  though  neither  of  us  was  very  ex- 
pert in  fresh-water  fishing. 

We  agreed  that  we  had  better  begin  with  the 
more  perishable  things,  and  put  them  out  of  harm's 
way ;  so  we  set  to  on  the  pie  and  sandwiches,  and 
had  quite  a  feast. 

Across  the  valley  from  us  was  a  pasture-lot,  with 
an  old  white  horse  cropping  at  the  grass  and  swish- 
ing away  the  flies.  Near  the  middle  stood  a  big 
sycamore,  or  "buttonwood  "  ;  most  of  the  smaller 
limbs  were  broken  off,  and  there  were  only  half-a- 
dozen  green  boughs  on  the  whole  tree. 

Every  such  forlorn-looking  old  stager  in  this 
region,  within  two  or  three  miles  of  salt  water,  has 
a  fish-hawk's  nest  on  it, —  sometimes  two.  This 
had  one  ;  a  big  one,  near  the  top. 


42  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Joe  got  out  his  spy-glass  and  we  took  a  look  at 
the  nest.  We  couldn't  make  out  whether  there 
was  anything  in  it ;  it  was  just  a  great  rough  pile 
of  sticks  and  dead  branches,  enough  to  fill  a  cart  — 
same  as  they  all  are.  It  must  be  a  deal  of  work 
to  build  such  a  pile  of  a  nest ;  a  robin's  would  have 
to  be  as  large  as  a  peck  measure  to  be  in  the  same 
proportion. 

Joe  and  I  began  discussing  whether  a  fish-hawk's 
nest  always  killed  the  tree,  or  whether  they  took  a 
tree  which  had  begun  to  decay  of  its  own  accord. 
I  thought,  the  last ;  because  the  sycamores  in  that 
region  are  all  more  or  less  blighted.  It  was  hard 
to  be  sure,  as  they  live  in  the  same  nest  year  after 
year  ;  and  I  never  saw  a  freshly-built  one. 

At  last  we  saw  a  fish-hawk  —  or  osprey,  as  it  is 
also  called  —  flapping  along  from  the  south  ;  and  it 
was  easy  to  see  it  had  a  fish.  Joe  clapped  the  glass 
to  his  eye. 

"  It's  alive  ! "  he  declared,  "  I  can  see  it  wrigfpfle  ! " 

"  What  kind  is  it  ?  Let's  see," — but  when  I  took 
the  glass  the  bird  had  nearly  reached  its  nest,  and 
what  caught  my  eye  were  some  liitle  heads  stretched 
above  the  edge ;  —  and  in  a  moment  the  fish  was 
among  them,  and  they  were  out  of  sight  again. 

"  Seems  to  me  a  fish-hawk  has  a  rather  hard  life," 
said  I.      "  I'd  rather  be  some  other  kind  of  bird." 

"  Oh,  they're  not  so  badly  off.  Nobody  troubles 
them,  and  they're  used  to  their  work." 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  43 

"  Maybe  so  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  sousing  under 
water  in  all  weathers,  and  lugging  a  heavy  fish  for 
miles, " 

"  You'd  rather  sit  still  and  reach  your  hand  into 
the  bag !  " 

"  Just  so  —  nothing  like  being  contented  with 
one's  lot." 


CHAPTER  VI.     . 

When  we  embarked,  we  found  that  the  water  had 
risen  two  or  three  inches,  and  that  the  Triton 
would  have  floated  off  by  herself  in  a  few  minutes 
more. 

"  Do  you  see  ?  there's  an  up-current,"  I  said. 

"  So  there  is  ,  —  a  pretty  slow  crawl,  though." 

"  Yes ;  but  the  tide  isn't  full  at  Pierhaven  'till 
eleven  ;  and  it  '11  keep  coming  up  here  for  some 
time  after  that.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it  helped  us 
a  good  deal  yet." 

We  went  on  about  half  an  hour,  around  bends 
and  "ox-bows"  of  all  sizes  and  directions.  The 
water  rose  fast  ;  it  was  nearly  level  with  the  bank 
in  many  places.  You  see,  there  was  quite  a  stream 
of  fresh  water  coming  down  from  above  all  the 
time,  and  the  rise  of  the  tide  dammed  it  up,  so  to 
speak  ;  where  we  were  it  was  filling  up  from  each 
way. 

We  had  been  looking  out  for  another  chance  to 
cut  off,  but  without  finding  one  narrow  enough  to 
be  worth  trying.  At  last  I  thought  I  saw  a  place 
that  would  do. 

The  neck,  or  isthmus  of  this  peninsula,  was  ten 
times  as  wide  as  the  one  we  had  hauled  across  ;  but 
the  bend  was  bigger,  too  ;  and  we  could  cut  off  a 

44 


OUR  WEEK  AELOAT.  45 

deal.  But  the  main  point  was,  that  the  neck  lay  so 
low  that  it  was  all  "  awash," — on  the  side  where  we 
were,  at  any  rate.  The  grass  rose  a  foot  or  more  ; 
but  close  by  we  could  see  the  water  shining  all  in 
among  the  stalks  ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  there  was 
enough  for  us  to  slip  her  through  easily. 

My  shoes  and  stockings  were  still  off,  and  I  said 
I  would  wade  across  and  see.  It  was  rather  queer 
walking,  splashing  along  through  the  thick  grass  ; 
but  there  was  water  all  the  way,  ankle-deep  in  some 
places. 

So  Joe's  shoes  and  stockings  came  off  too.  We 
didn't  undertake  to  lighten  the  boat ;  the  trouble 
of  carrying  the  things  by  hand  that  distance  would 
amount  to  more  than  their  weight  aboard  would 
cause  her. 

We  both  laid  hold  of  the  painter ;  and  after  the 
start  she  slid  along  like  a  sled  ;  the  sail  was  up, 
taking  the  wind  ;  and  that  helped  some.  Anybody 
a  little  way  off  would  have  thought  we  were  haul- 
ing her  over  dry  land.  She  smoothed  the  grass  down 
like  a  flat-iron  ;  when  the  farm  hands  came  to  mow 
they  must  have  wondered  who  left  that  trail. 

When  we  were  nearly  across  we  noticed  an  old 
grindstone  at  one  side  on  higher  ground,  under  a 
low-spreading  oak;  and  we  said  we'd  keep  that  in 
mind  for  a  landmark  to  know  that  cut-off  again ; 
for  most  of  those  bends  down  there  were  surpris- 
ingly alike. 


46  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Where  we  took  to  the  water  again,  there  was  a 
long  straight  northward  stretch ;  I  jumped  aboard, 
Joe  gave  her  a  good  shove-off  and  grabbed  the 
steering-oar,  and  we  skimmed  along  gaily. 

The  water  had  become  quite  brown ;  we  couldn't 
see  the  bottom  at  all.  When  we  got  around  the 
next  bend  I  asked  Joe  to  sound  ;  he  jabbed  the  oar 
down,  but  it  was  deeper  than  he  allowed  for,  and  it 
floated  up  without  touching.  He  drew  up  and  gave 
another  dig,  and  this  time  he  struck  it ;  but  he  had 
to  reach  his  hand  under  water  to  do  it.  It  was  a 
seven-foot  oar. 

"  Tell  you  what,"  said  I  ;  "  next  time  we  come 
up>  we'll  charter  Ed.  Serrell's  sloop,  and  bring  all 
the  fellows. 

"Hello  —  ship  ahoy!"  cried  Joe;  "here's  your 
vessel,  now,  right  ahead." 

I  looked  ;  sure  enough,  there  was  some  kind  of 
a  big  red  craft  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  with  a 
few  men  polling  it  slowly  along  ;  it  had  just  come 
in  sight  from  behind  a  row  of  willows. 

"  I  know  what  it  is,"  went  on  Joe  ;  "  it's  a  brick- 
scow  !  that  red  is  bricks.  That's  why  the  Sylph 
was  lying  at  Burrill's  Wharf  this  morning." 

And  Joe  proceeded  to  get  out  his  spy-glass  once 
more  ;  but  there  was  no  need.  I  knew  as  well  as 
Joe  that  there  was  a  brick-yard  up  this  way  some- 
where, and  that  every  now  and  then  deeply-laden 
scows  appeared  at  Pierhaven  bridge,  which  were 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  49 

towed  away  to  various  ports  on  the  bay  by  the 
queer  old  side-wheel  tug-boat. 

In  half  a  minute  more  another  could  be  seen 
pushing  out  from  behind  the  willows.  They  made 
pretty  slow  progress;  but  then,  the  current,  such 
as  it  was,  was  against  them. 

We  came  nearer  by  degrees,  sometimes  going 
the  same  way,  sometimes  contrary,  according  to  the 
bends  ;  and  when  at  last  we  got  into  the  same  reach, 
we  saw  there  wasn't  room  to  pass,  for  they  kept 
squarely  in  the  middle.  So  we  hauled  the  Triton 
up  ashore,  and  waited  for  them  to  pole  by.  One 
of  the  men  hailed  us  : 

"Where're  you  from?  Wylie's  Bridge?" 

"We're  from  Pierhaven. 

"Must  have  started  early." 

Another  called  out,  "  The  Sylph  got  there  yet?" 

"We  saw  her  this  morning." 

"Hear  that  ?  "  he  said  to  the  others.  "  Old  Cap'n 
Jotham'll  jaw  us  for  not  loading  up  in  time  to  get 
down  there  yesterday ! " 

When  the  other  scow  came  along,  there  was  a 
boy  perched  on  top  of  the  bricks,  which  were  piled 
up  quite  neatly,  with  a  place  left  all  around  the 
edge  of  the  scow,  for  the  men  to  walk  on.  He  had 
on  faded  blue  overalls,  with  one  suspender;  and 
looked  at  us  without  saying  anything.  I  called 
out:     "How  far  is  it  to  the  brick-yard?" 

"  Dunno,"  said  he. 

4 


SO  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"""Bout  a  mile,  by  water,"  said  one  of  the  men. 
"  Goin'  fishin'?" 

"  Perhaps  so  ;  any  fish  up  this  way  ?" 

"  Not  much,  I  guess.  Some  shad  gets  up  here 
in  the  spring,  but  they're  through  runnin'  long 
ago." 

"  There's  bull-pouts  in  Harlow's  Pond  !  "  the  boy 
woke  up  enough  to  say.  "  And  you  might  find 
punkin'-seed  in  some  places  along  up  !  "  he  called 
out,  as  the  scow  moved  off. 

"Bull-pouts!  punkin'-seed!"  I  repeated.  'What's 
he  orivinof  us  ?  " 

"That's  what  they  call  catfish  sometimes/ — bull- 
pouts,  or  bull-heads,"  explained  Joe.  He  had  gone 
fishing  with  his  cousins  in  Connecticut,  and  knew 
more  about  fresh  water  than  I  did.  "  And  I've 
heard  of  punkin'-seed  ;  but  I  don't  know  exactly 
what  they  are." 

We  pushed  off  the  boat,  and  continued  our  voy- 
age. The  valley  through  which  the  river  wound 
was  not  as  wide  now,  and  the  bends  were  shorter ; 
the  salt-marsh  grass  had  given  place  to  the  ordi- 
nary meadow  kinds,  and  the  trees  were  growing- 
close  to  the  water,  here  and  there.  Before  long 
we  came  to  a  long  row  of  willows,  growing  close 
together  at  the  water's  edge,  where  we  had  first 
seen  the  scows.  They  shaded  us,  and  that  was 
pleasant  enough  ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  took 
the  wind  from  the  sail. 


O  UR  11 TEEK  A  FL  OA  T.  51 

But  Joe  went  to  sculling  with  his  steering-oaf, 

and  we  forged  onward  as  fast  as  we  cared  to.  We 
weren't  in  so  much  of  a  hurry,  now  that  we  were 
out  of  that  tiresome  salt-marsh  region. 

just  after  passing  the  willows,  I  noticed  a  plant 
growing  out  of  the  water,  close  to  the  bank  ;  it 
had  a  few  large  arrow-head-shaped  leaves,  and 
among  them  was  a  stalk  with  a  short  green  spike 
at  either  end,  dotted  over  with   little  blue   flowers. 

"That's  a  pickerel-weed,"  said  Joe.  "We're  clear 
out  of  salt  water  now,  I  guess.  You  might  take  a 
taste." 

"  Don't  care  to  try  again,  eh  ?"  I  rejoined. 

The  water  was  rather  warm,  and  its  flavor  wasn't 
very  choice  ;  but  there  was  no  salt  about  it  this 
time. 

The  shore  kept  rising  now  on  the  west  side,  till 
it  was  quite  a  bluff  ;  now  and  then  an  old  worm- 
fence  came  zig-zagging  down  to  the  water,  with  a 
line  of  trees  and  bushes  alongside  of  it  ;  and  the 
trees  began  to  come  gathering  along  the  river- 
bank. 

The  sail  was  of  hardly  any  use  ;  so  I  took  it 
down  and  rolled  it  around  the  mast,  and  stowed  it 
in  the  boat.  Then  I  took  up  the  oars  and  pulled 
slowly  along. 

It  was  quite  a  change  for  the  Triton, —  this  sort 
of  thing.  She  was  used  to  dancing  and  dipping 
across  the  big  waves  in  the  channel  at  Pierhaven, 


52  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  \ 

when  the  tide  was  flowing  down  against  the  south- 
west wind  ;  and  to  grounding  on  gravelly  beaches 
, where  the  little  breakers  rocked  her  about  among 
the  kelp  and  sea-wrack;  but  to  be  gliding  on  a 
fresh-water  stream  away  up  inland,  with  the  grass 
and  leaves  dipping  into  the  water  on  either  hand, 
was  something  new  for  her, —  and  for  us,  too. 
And,  for  a  change,  we  liked  it  very  well. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

After  a  time  the  bluff  on  the  west  became  quite 
steep,  and  jutted  out  in  a  sort  of  promontory  cov- 
ered with  a  grove  of  oaks,  almost  black  except  in 
spots  near  the  top  where  the  shiny  leaves  sparkled 
in  the  sun. 

Here  was  quite  a  bend  to  the  east ;  and  beyond, 
on  the  other  side,  a  flat  tongue  of  land  ran  out, 
with  an  immense  willow  on  it,  overhanging  the 
water.  Some  cows  were  standing  knee-deep  under 
the  willow,  with  the  sun  mottling  their  sides  where 
it  shone  between  the  leaves. 

The  cows  didn't  seem  to  mind  at  all,  as  we 
drifted  down  to  them,  but  stood  working  their  jaws 
and  swinging  their  tails. 

"  I  wonder  if  they'll  wait  till  we  charge  into 
them,"  said  Joe. 

But  as  we  drew  nearer,  we  saw  that  there  was 
room  for  the  boat  to  get  by  in  the  deep  channel 
under  the  west  bank.  Still  I  thought  it  best  to 
draw  the  port  oar  inboard. 

All  of  a  sudden  Joe  reached  down  for  the  old 
umbrella,  and  opened  it  with  a  rattling  flap, — -and 
gracious  !  what  a  plunging  and  splashing !  The)' 
sent  the  water  all  over  us,  and  made  the  Triton  wab- 
ble about  as  though  she  was  in  a  "  sea-way"  again. 

53 


54  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

.  Tne  beasts  floundered  up  ashore,  and  bulged 
their  eyes  out  -at  us.  I  couldn't  help  laughing-, 
though  I  was  nearest  and  took  most  of  the  spat- 
tering. 

"  Come,  Joe!  you  might  have  got  us  upset!  Sup- 
pose one  of  them  had  been  a  bull !" 

"I   wish  there  had!"   he    exclaimed.      "I'd   like 
nothing  better.     Think  of  him  roaring  and  ripping- 
after   us!     We'd   keep  in   the   channel,   and  watch 
him    swim.      He'd   come    from   off    the    bank,   and 
charge    sideways    at    us !     I'd    like   to   see   him, — 
!  wouldn't  I  just  set  this  oar-blade  'tween  his  horns!" 
But  I  thought  it  just  as  well  that  Joe's  bragging 
.  wasn't   put  to   the   test.       Before  we  were   out  of 
sight,  the  cows  had  straggled  back  into  the  water 
again. 

"  There's  the  brick-yard  !  " 

I   turned,  and  saw  some  long  unpainted   sheds, 

and  a  smaller  brick  building,  with  an  outside  fac- 

1  tory  chimney,  standing  on  bare  yellow  ground,  east 

of  the  river.     There   didn't  seem  to   be   anything 

.  going  on,  except  at  the  water  side,  where   a  few 

men    had    nearly    finished   loading   another   scow. 

'  They  stood  in  a  line,  a  little  apart  from  each  other; 

;  a  man  at  one  end  was  on  the  scow,  the  others   led 

off  to  the  heap  of  bricks,  up  on  the  bank. 

It  was  fun  to  watch  them,  they  managed  it  so 
neatly.  The  one  at  the  shore  end  would  pick  up 
four  or  five  bricks  at  once, —  ranged  in  a  pile  one 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


55 


above  another,  and  toss  them  to  the  next ;  and  so 
they  were  pitched  right  along-,  till  the  last  man  got 
them,  and  laid  them  on  the  scow.  By  that  time 
two  or  three  more  bunches  had  started  from  the 
shore  end  ;  they  kept  it  up  as  regularly  as  machinery. 

It  wouldn't  do  for  one  to  get  behindhand,  for  the 
bricks  were  in  the  air  most  of  the  time  ;  and  it 
seemed  wonderful  that  the  bunches  stuck  together 
so  well.  I  suppose  they  must  drop,  sometimes ; 
but  they  didn't  while  we  were  looking  at  them. 

The  river  widened  out  a  bit,  here,  and  we  got  by 
without  any  trouble ;  the  men  barely  glanced  at  us, 
without  speaking. 

"  They  want  to  get  down  to  Pierhaven  to-day," 
said  Joe. 

Under  the  sheds  were  heaps  of  unburned  bricks, 
piled  loosely  in  "  kilns,"  with  spaces  for  the  smoke 
to  escape.  On  the  further  side  was  a  long  row  of 
boxes  or  trays,  where  the  clay  and  sand  were 
stirred  up  together  with  water  by  machinery  ;  but 
as  the  works  weren't  going,  we  didn't  care  to 
stop. 

Before  long  a  bend  hid  the  place,  and  we  were 
alone  again.  Down  below,  in  the  meadows,  we 
could  see  quite  a  distance  up  and  down  the  course 
of  the  river ;  but  here  the  trees  grew  along  the 
bank  so  closely  that  often  we  could  see  little  more 
than  the  reach  we  were  in.  But  for  all  that,  it  was 
pleasanter ;  every  bend  showed  us  a  fresh  view,  that 


jS  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

we  had  never  seen  before.  Now  we  began  to  feel 
really  like  explorers. 

All  at  once,  as  we  rounded  a  curve,  the  water  in 
front  was  split  by  a  point  of  rocks,  with  grass  and  a 
few  junipers  on  top ;  this  point  widened  rapidly  as 
it  went  further  up,  and  rose,  too,  with  good-sized 
trees  springing  from  it.     The  river  had  branched  ! 

"That's  bad!"  I  said,  "we  won't  have  so  much 
road  to  travel  in!" 

"We'll  take  the  main  stream,  anyhow,"  said  Joe. 

But  which  was  it?  The  branches  seemed  to  be 
about  equal  in  size.  The  one  to  the  left  had  a  high, 
rocky  bank,  which  went  straight  down  into  the  water, 
in  some  places;  the  other  was  a  little  wider,  with  a 
somewhat  shelving,  gravelly  bank  on  the  right,  and 
rocky  on  the  other,  or  the  end  of  the  point.  But  in 
this  the  water  was  flowing  slowly, — still  upward; 
while  in  the  left,  it  seemed  to  be  at  a  standstill. 
Besides,  the  right  fork  was  rather  more  in  a  line 
with  the  direction  below  the  point;  so  we  decided 
to  take  that  one. 

When  we  got  in  we  found  it  was  so  shallow  that 
we  could  see  the  bottom  plainly, — rugged  and  rocky, 
and  colored  in  various  deep  shades  of  brown.  Joe 
sounded,  and  found  the  water  less  than  a  yard  deep. 
The  current  was  brisker  than  it  had  been  yet,  but 
as  it  helped  us,  that  was  all  right. 

As  I  rowed  along  I  noticed  a  number  of  dark-col- 
ored shells  scattered  on  the  bottom,  near  the  shore. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  57 

I  brought  up  the  boat,  reached  over  and  picked 
some  up. 

They  were  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  clam, 
but  colored  like  a  mussel; — they  were  fresh-water 
clams.  I  had  seen  some  shells  of  the  same  kind  in 
cousin  Albert's  cabinet,  brought  from  the  Ottawa 
River,  in  Canada. 

"  Let's  get  up  a  clam-bake!"  said  I.  "  Do  you 
suppose  they  are  fit  to  eat?" 

"  Nothing  like  trying!"  said  Joe. 

Now  raw  salt-water  clams  are  not  as  good  as 
cooked  ones  ;  still  they  are  eatable, — at  least,  hungry 
boys  have  thought  so  more  than  once.  So  I  cut 
one  open.  It  looked  rather  queer,  but  it  was  plain- 
ly a  clam;  so  I  took  a  bite. 

Poh !  there  was't  any  taste  to  it !  It  was  just 
toughness,  and  nothing  else;  a  piece  of  wet 
rubber'd  be  about  as  good.  It  was  unnatural  and 
disgusting  that  a  clam  should  have  no  sort  of  sa« 
vor. 

"Not  quite  right,  eh  !"  laughed  Joe. 

14 1  hope  they're  better  cooked !  But  I  don't 
think  I  want  to  try  them  again,  in  any  shape.  It 
would  take  an  alligator  to  chew  'em  and  an  ostrich 
to  digest  em!" 

So  I  tossed  the  lot  overboard,  and  pulled  ahead. 

"They're  not  rightly  clams,  they're  mussels,"  said 
Joe.     "  Clams  burrow;  these  don't." 

But  as  far  as  flavor  went,  I  thought  the  salt-water 


SS  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

mussels  were  as  much  insulted  as  the  clams,  by  the 
comparison. 

"Why  didn't  you  hunt  them  for  pearls?"  he  went 
on.  "  It's  been  proved  that  one  fresh-water  mussel 
in  every  hundred  has  a  pearl,  and  of  every  ten  pearls 
there's  one  big  enough  to  be  worth  something." 

"  I'm  rowing,"  I  replied.  "  Why  don't  you  take 
up  the  business?" 

But  the  clams  had  nothing  more  to  fear  from  us. 

Our  branch  now  began  to  turn  to  the  left ;  and  the 
bank  on  that  side  became  lower.  Then,  after  a 
long,  straight  stretch,  the  course  turned  to  the  right 
again.  At  the  next  bend,  the  bank  on  the  left 
doubled  around  in  another  point,  and  there  was  still 
another  branch  making  off  on  the  other  side  of  it ! 

"  Confound  this  river  !  "  exclaimed  Joe.  "  It's  all 
splitting  up  !  I  wonder  which  is  the  right  one,  n-ow?" 
for  the  forks,  as  before,  were  of  about  the  same 
size. 

"Let's  see  what  the  course  is,"  said  I,  "I'm  all 
turned  'round." 

I  got  out  the  compass,  and  we  found  that  the 
branch  on  the  right  led  off  about  north-east,  while 
the  other  stretched  away  a  little  south  of  west. 

"I  think  this  river  comes  down  in  a  northerly 
direction,"  said  I. 

•  "So  it  does,  in  general;  but  we've  boxed  the 
compass  a  dozen  times  already  since  we  left  Wylie's 
bridge.     Each  of  these  may  turn  the  other  way  in 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  jp 

the  next  five  rods.  We  want  to  take  the  one  that's 
got  the  most  water." 

"  Of  course." 

"Well,  that's  the  one!"  pointing  to  the  left. 
"Just  watch  that  leaf!" 

It  was  a  yellow  hickory  leaf,  fallen  before  its  time, 
and  curled  up  at  the  edge  just  enough  to  make  a 
first-class  fairy  canoe.  Though  there  was  no  wind 
at  that  place,  the  bushesbeing  thick,  it  was  moving, 
slowly  but  surely — moving  toward  the  junction. 

"See!"  said  Joe.  "  In  the  other  fork,  the  tide's 
going  up  still;  but  in  this,  there's  fresh  water 
enough  coming  down  from  above  to  set  the  leaf 
down  stream." 

There  was  no  denying  it, — -here  was  at  last  the 
first  trace  of  a  downward  current.  Without  more 
delay,  Joe  swung  his  helm,  or  his  oar-handle,  to 
starboard  ;  and  we  entered  the  fork.  The  leaf 
which  had  guided  us  narrowly  escaped  being  run 
down  ;  but  it  glided  by  unharmed,  and  I  watched  it 
swirling  and  dancing  merrily  away  in  our  wake. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Our  river  soon  grew  quite  narrow,  with  steep, 
rocky  banks  on  either  hand.  I  had  to  draw  the 
oar-handles  inboard  past  each  other,  to  get  room  to 
row. 

"  Sorry  it's  getting  so  narrow  ;  we'll  have  to  de- 
pend on  sculling,  pretty  soon." 

Joe  sounded  with  an  oar,  but  could  hardly  reach 
bottom. 

"That's  good  ;  there's  plenty  of  water,"  he  said, 
"it'll  widen  out  before  long." 

But  though  it  grew  no  wider,  it  grew  deeper. 
The  rocks  almost  straight  up,  on  either  side,  to 
more  than  twenty  feet  above  the  water.  It  was  a 
regular  little  canon. 

Above,  the  trees  arched  over  thickly,  all  glimmer- 
ing with  spots  of  bright  yellow-green,  where  the 
sun  struck  through  the  leaves,  as  they  shook  in  the 
wind ;  while  the  birds  hopped  about  chirping  and 
the  locusts  buzzed. 

Down  where  we  were  it  was  cool  and  shady,  and 
the  splashing  of  the  oars  sounded  hollow  and  echo- 
ing, like  a  bucket  in  a  well ;  the  rocks  were  damp, 
and  green  with  moss  in  some  places,  and  dark  and 
glistening  in  others,  where  little  sheets  of  water 
ran  down  from  cracks,  and  tinkled  into  the  stream. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  61 

I  wonder  if  the  old  Triton  knew  who  she  was,  in 
such  a  place  as  that ! 

The  course  curved  a  little,  and  opened  up  a  new 
vista,  a  closed  one  ;  for  a  wall  of  rock  stood  right 
across  the  further  end.  At  the  same  time,  we  heard 
a  low  murmur  of  rushing  water. 

"No  thoroughfare  ! "  said  Joe. 

"Your  main  channel  did'nt  last  very  long;"  I 
observed.  "We'll  have  to  back  out  through;  I 
don't  believe  there's  room  to  turn  'round." 

"  Hold  on  ! "  said  he,  "  let's  go  to  the  end.  We 
both  saw  there  was  a  current ;  you  can  see  it's  com- 
ing down  against  us,  yet;  —  and  don't  you  hear  the 
water  running  somewhere  ahead  ? " 

"I  know,"  said  I,  "it  goes  through  a  tunnel 
under  the  rocks,  Joe.  We'd  have  rigged  up  some 
diving  apparatus  if  we'd  known  we'd  got  to  explore 
under  water." 

A  few  strokes  brought  us  to  the  end,  and  it  was 
no  end  at  all !  The  channel  went  right  off,  at  right 
angles,  to  the  left ! 

I  was  never  more  surprised  ;  and  I  guess  Joe 
was  just  as  much.  We  backed  off  again,  to  take  a 
look  from  where  we  first  saw  it,  and  now  we  could 
tell  where  the  break  was  ;  but  we  never  could  have 
made  it  out  before. 

Well,  then  we  turned  the  corner ;  and  the  noise 
of  rushing  water  kept  growing  louder ;  the  passage 
turned  a  little,  and  there  it  was  !  a  water-fall  foam- 


62  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT 

ing  down  the  rocks  from  nearly  three  times  as  high 
as  my  head.  There  wasn't  very  much  water  — 
about  twice  as  much  as  you'd  pour  from  a  good- 
sized  bucket,  only  it  kept  coming  all  the  time,  of 
course  ;  and  it  spread  out,  and  rushed  over  the 
notches  and  steps  of  the  rock,  and  made  as  much 
show  and  noise  as  it  could ;  and  it  was  right  pretty 
to  look  at.  It  was  pleasant,,  too,  to  come  on  it  sud- 
denly, without  expecting  it,  as  though  we  were  the 
first  discoverers  ;  and  there  was  nothing  to  show 
we  weren't. 

We  stopped  and  looked  at  it  a  while ;  and  then 
we  began  to. think  of  getting  by.  The  rock  must 
have  sloped  down  towards  the  edge,  for  the  fall 
started  off  with  quite  a  curve-out ;  and  though  most 
of  it  hit  the  rocks  partway  clown,  there  was  one 
spout  that  made  a  clear  leap  out  into  the  water  at 
the  bottom,  and  there  was  a  deal  of  spattering. 

"  Let's  eet  under  the  umbrella !  "  said  I. 

But  Joe  pooh-poohed  that,  and  said  all  it  was 
good  for  was  to  scare  cows.  "  It'll  be  more  fun  to 
'run  the  gauntlet;'  it  can't  amount  to  much,  any- 
way. 

So  we  backed  to  the  turn,  and  then  put  on  steam 
and  came  tearing  down,  with  Joe  thrusting  against 
the  rocks  with  his  oar  from  the  stern  ;  and  we 
travelled  through  the  spray  in  a  second.  It  wasn't 
equal  by  half  to  the  splashing-  I  got  from  the  cows. 
So  then  we  went  on,  with  the  fall  sounding  fainter 


THE  CHANNEL  WENT  RIGHT  OFF  AT  RIGHT  ANGLES.       63 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  dj 

and  fainter;  presently  we  turned  to  the  left,  and 
lost  sight  of  it.  The  rocks  on  each  side  began  to 
be  lower ;  we  were  coming  to  the  end  of  the  cafion. 

"There  she  widens  !  "  cried  Joe. 

"Good!"  said  I;  and  I  put  a  little  more  vim 
into  my  pulling ;  for  I  was  tired  of  being  so  cramped 
for  space. 

"  Well !  Great  Caesar  and  pig-iron  !  "  roared  Joe. 

What  do  you  think  ?  there  where  the  river  widened 
was  still  another  branch  forking  in,  nearly  in  the 
same  direction  in  which  we  had  been  coming;  and, 
strangest  of  all,  the  branch  was  fully  as  large  as  the 
main  stream  we  were  on  ;  and  yet,  after  dividing, 
the  river  seemed  larger  than  ever ;  as  large,  in  fact, 
as  it  was  before  forking  the  first  time  ! 

"It's  an  enchanted  river! "  exclaimed  Joe.  "  The 
more  she  splits  up,  the  larger  she  grows ! " 

"Well,  bring  on  your  surprises!"  said  I,  "you 
can't  astonish  me  any  more!" 

But  that  wasn't  so.  We  looked  up  around  the 
new  branch  ;  and  Joe  clapped  his  hand  on  my  knee, 
but  for  a  few  moments  neither  of  us  said  anything. 
We  couldrit  say  anything  that  would  come  up  to  it! 

We  knew  that  rocky  point,  and  those  junipers ; 
we  had  seen  them  within  an  hour.  We  had  been 
circumnavigating  an  island ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Where  we  saw  the  leaf,  the  branch  which  at  the 
first  forking  passed  off  to  the  left,  united  with  the 
other  to  form  one  stream  ao-ain.  No  wonder  the 
current  flowed  toward  the  junction  '. 

"Well,  Joe,"  said  I,  "  it  seems  there  was  water 
enough  in  that  branch  to  take  us  down  stream  ;  but 
I  shouldn't  wonder  if  the  leaf  was  traveling  up,  still!" 

"  If  you  knew  better  than  I,  why  didn't  you  say 
so! "  snapped  Joe. 

"  Oh,  come  now,  what's  the  use  of  getting  mad? 
Of  course  I  thought  the  same  as  you  did  ;  and  after 
all,  you  wouldn't  want  to  have  missed  seeing  that 
cafion !  it's  the  best  exploring  we've  done  yet. 
'Twas  a  fortunate  mistake,  Joe!" 

So  he  let  down  his  bristles  ;  but  he  said  he'd  keep 
his  eye  open  for  islands,  after  this. 

We  worked  back  again  up  the  right  side,  for  that 
was  easier  rowing;  but  it  was  rather  dull  going 
over  the  same  ground  again.  Where  I  had  stopped 
to  pick  up  the  clams  there  was  a  dozen  minnows 
tugging  and  fighting  over  the  one  I  had  cut  open; 
but  nothing  bigger. 

At  last  we  came  to  our  second  forks,  and  it  seemed 
plain  enough  now;  but  Joe  insisted  on  stopping  and 
piling  up  a  little  heap  of  stones  on  the  point,  with  a 

66     • 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  6y 

stick  built  among  them  pointing  out  towards  the 
passage  we  had  just  come  through. 

"We're  likely  enough  to  hit  more  such  places;  and 
I'll  make  sure  of  this  one." 

Then  I  gave  him  the  oars,  and  we  began  once 
more  to  make  progress  into  parts  unknown. 

We  hadn't  gone  a  dozen  boat-lengths,  when  there 
was  the  identical  leaf,  floating  along  up  as  calmly 
as  ever.  Joe  gave  a  dig  at  it;  but  we  were  too  far 
ahead,  and  it  bobbed  away  serenely.  As  I  told  him 
it  wasn't  the  leaf's  fault,  but  ours  who  didn't  under- 
stand it. 

Now  we  came  to  a  place  where  our  course  wound 
about  through  pastures  and  meadow-lots  for  quite 
a  ways;  and  there  weren't  many  trees  near  the 
water,  so  that  we  could  see  the  bends  ahead,  as  we 
did  below  the  brick-yard.  It  didn't  make  big  ox- 
bows, and  come  doubling  backward  as  it  did  there, 
but  went  crooking  along  in  an  average  northwest- 
erly direction. 

The  meadows  sloped  gently  away,  and  we  could 
see  as  much  as  half  a  mile  in  some  places;  and 
then  the  view  was  stopped  by  stone  walls,  with 
thick,  low  apple-trees  on  the  other  side  ;  or  by  barns 
and  other  wood-colored  shanties  such  as  they  always 
have — corn-cribs,  hen-houses,  and  what-not — string- 
ing along  till  you  come  to  a  well-sweep  sticking  up 
against  the  sky;  and  there's  the  house,  with  a  long 
flap  of  roof  running  down  to  one  story  high  towards 


68  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT 

i. 

the  meadows;  while  on  the  other  side,  toward  the 
road  along  the  ridge,  it  shows  two  stories. 

There  were  three  or  four  houses  in  sight;  and 
they  had  little  bits  of  narrow  windows  spotted  here 
and  there  on  the  gables,  and  dormer  windows  mak- 
ing dots  of  shadow  on  the  roofs,  like  old  eyes  half- 
shut  and  sleepy ;  but  the  sleepiest  things  were  the 
roofs  themselves,  stretching  along  under  the  trees, 
and  gleaming  bright  and  still  in  the  afternoon  sun- 
shine. 

There  were  no  signs  of  life  but  the  little  white 
dots  of  chickens  creeping  about.  Now  and  then 
we  could  hear  a  dog  "wuffing"  a  long  way  off. 

All  at  once  we  rounded  right  into  a  school  of 
ducks ;  they  raised  an  outrageous  quacking,  and 
Joe  was  startled  almost  as  much  as  they  were.  He 
had  been  rowing  with  his  eyes  shut,  and  I  don't  be- 
lieve he  was  more  than  half  awake. 

The  ducks  marched  away,  solemnly  shaking  their 
tails,  as  though  they  disapproved  of  that  sort  of 
thing. 

"  They're  not  used  to  boats,"  said  Joe,  "  I  haven't 
seen  one  on  the  river  yet." 

"  Except  the  brick  scows." 

But  we  came  on  one,  right  away.  It  was  where 
a  fence  came  down  to  the  water  on  each  side,  and 
a  path  ran  along  by  the  fence.  A  little  square  tub 
of  a  boat  was  moored  there,  just  big  enough  to  hold 
one  person;  it  was  fastened   to  a  line  which  ran 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  jt 

around  a  pulley  at  the  top  of  a  stake,  then  across 
the  river  and  around  another  pulley  on  that  side  ; 
then  it  went  back  across  to  the  boat  again.  A  man 
coming  either  way  could  get  in  the  boat,  and  pull 
himself  across. 

"  It's  a  ferry-boat !  " 

"Yes  the  smallest  on  record,"  said  Joe,  as  he 
lifted  the  rope  over  his  head.  "  I'd  like  to  see  Bus- 
ter Williams  cross  in  that  !  " 

As  "Buster"  "tipped  the  scales"  at  240,  it  isn't 
likely  he  would  have  been  willing  to  try. 

A  horse  lay  under  a  tree  in  the  lot  we  now  came 
upon  ;  he  struggled  up  and  came  slowly  down  to 
investigate  us.  He  was  a  sober  and  venerable- 
looking  old  nag,  and  he  stretched  his  neck  wistfully 
after  us,  as  though  he  would  like  to  come  aboard 
and  take  a  ride. 

After  zig-zagging  around  awhile  among  the  pas- 
ture-lots, we  coursed  along  the  edge  of  a  grove  of 
oaks  which  covered  the  slope  to  our  left,  and  shel- 
tered us  from  the  sun ;  which  was  getting  low 
enough  to  be  a  little  uncomfortable.  I  don't  mind 
the  sun  half  so  much  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  for 
then  your  hat-brim  can  shade  you,  if  it's  decent- 
sized  ;  but  earlier  or  later  it  edges  around  under- 
neath, and  you  can't  keep  out  of  its  way. 

Before  we  passed  by  the  grove,  we  agreed  to 
land  and  open  the  bags  again.  We  laid  in  so 
much    piecrust    before,   it    was    some    time    before 


72  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

we  got  hungry  again ;  it  was  now  nearly  three 
o'clock. 

So  we  sat  down  in  the  shade  and  ate;  and  then 
we  wandered  about  a  little,  to  stretch  our  legs.  I 
started  a  chipmunk ;  and  we  watched  him  capering 
about  and  chattering  at  us  —  which  brought  an- 
other— and  they  both  followed  after  us,  jumping 
from  tree  to  tree.  We  "spotted"  acorns  at  them  ; 
but  they  didn't  seem  to  mind. 

It  was  four  o'clock  when  we  started  again ;  and 
after  a  few  minutes'  rowing,  we  came  in  sight  of  a 
bridge  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  ahead, —  the  fourth 
since  starting. 

It  was  a  solid-looking  stone  bridge,  with  one 
arch,  and  some  tall  trees  on  each  bank  beyond, 
through  which  we  could  see  some  roofs  on  the 
right,  and  some  blue  smoke  curling  out  of  a  chim- 
ney. The  half-circle  of  the  bridge  was  repeated  in 
the  water,  among  the  dark  reflections  of  the  trees  ; 
and  the  whole  made  as  pretty  a  view  as  we  had 
seen  that  day. 

Soon  we  were  splashing  through  under  the  cool 
arch.  Beyond,  the  river  widened  out  to  twice  its 
ordinary  size ;  there  was  a  large,  low,  rambling  house 
not  far  from  the  water-side,  and  a  big  stone  barn  a 
little  further  off.  There  was  a  veranda  along  the 
front,  overrun  with  vines,  where  a  girl  was  sewing, 
with  a  dog  lying  beside  her. 

When  he  heard  our  oars,  he  jumped  up  and  came 


AS  PRETTY  A  VIEW  AS  WE  HAD  SEEN  THAT  DAY. 


73 


0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  ?5 

bounding  to  the  shore,  where  he  ran  up  and  down, 
barking"  at  us  ;  he  was  a  big-,  good-natured  looking 
fellow,  and  the  girl  tried  to  call  him  back,  but  he 
wouldn't  mind  ;  I  didn't  know  but  he'd  jump  in 
after  us,  he  was  so  excited. 

A  little  further  along,  a  handsome  row-boat  was 
moored  to  the  bank  ;  "  Kittie  Clover"  was  painted 
on  its  stern.  A  little  boy  and  girl  were  in  it  ;  they 
had  been  fishing,  but  now  they  were  too  much 
taken  up  with  looking  at  us  to  pay  attention  to  any- 
thing else. 

We  rowed  up  and  asked  if  they  had  caught  any- 
thing. The  boy  held  up  a  string  of  four  or  five 
minnows. 

"  Not  enough  yet  for  a  chowder,"  remarked  Joe. 

Then  I  asked  how  far  it  was  to  "  Shad  Factory." 
They  didn't  seem  to  know  ;  but  the  girl  had  come 
down  by  this  time,  and  got  the  dog  quiet;  and  she 
said  it  was  about  eight  miles.  She  didn't  know  how 
far  it  was  by  water.  "  How  far  is  it  to  where  the 
current  begins  to  run  down  ?" 

"  It's  generally  running  down  here''  she  said. 
"  At  full  and  new  moon  it  runs  up  part  of  the  time  ; 
the  tide  from  below  crowds  it  up.  It  was  running 
up  here  an  hour  ago." 

It  was  dead  still  now,  as  far  as  we  could  make 
out.  But  we  couldn't  expect  it  to  stay  so  long ;  and 
the  further  we  got.  before  it  turned  against  us  the 
better.      So  we  thanked  her,  and  pulled  away 


76  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

We  turned  to  the  right,  and  lost  sight  of  the 
bridge,  and  its  pleasant  neighborhood.  The  river 
became  narrower  again,  but  still  we  noticed  no 
current 

By  and  by  it  widened  out  again,  and  made  quite 
a  pond ;  ten  times  our  boat's  length  across,  and 
much  longer  than  that,  up  and  down.  On  ourright 
was  a  pretty  steep  hill,  with  a  flock  of  sheep  nib- 
bling over  it ;  towards  the  top,  some  rocky  ledges 
cropped  out,  and  still  further  up  were  thick  woods. 

On  the  other  side,  a  number  of  large  willows 
were  growing  close  to  the  water.  Then  meadows 
stretched  back,  with  several  oak  and  elm  trees,  and 
orchards  ;  a  few  farm  buildings  in  sight,  and  a  white 
church-spire  beyond,  with  its  vane  gleaming  in  the 
sunshine  like  a  star. 

I  don't  think  there  are  any  trees  handsomer  than 
willows,  take  it  altogether;  especially  when  the  sun 
is  low,  and  lights  them  up  the  way  it  did  then; — they 
are  big,  solid,  and  grand-looking,  and  still  so  light 
and  cheerful,  with  the  fine  feathery  leaves,  all  sil- 
very on  the  outside,  and  warm  and  mellow  on  the 
inside,  where  the  sun  strikes  right  through  and 
touches  up  the  orange-colored  twigs  and  switches; 
while  the  big  boughs  go  forking  up  among  it  almost 
black,  except  where  the  light  straggles  through  and 
brings  out  cinnamon  spots,  here  and  there. 

And  it  grows,  all  over;  the  leaves  and  twigs  cover 
it  down  to  the  ground  ;  and  it  branches  right  away; 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  77 

no  tall,  stiff  trunk.  It's  a  domestic  kind  of  a  tree; 
you  don't  find  it  on  mountains  and  in  "  trackless 
forests,"  but  along  pleasant  stretches  of  water  like 
this,  with  men's  homes  not  far  off. 

The  wind  had  died  down,  and  the  water  was  still, 
so  that  everything  was  doubled; — and  it  was  worth 
being  doubled.  I  told  Joe  to  stop  rowing  a  little, 
so  as  not  to  shake  it  up. 

He  thought  it  was  lovely,  too,  He  said  it  looked 
as  though  there  might  be  fish  there  ;  and  we  said 
we'd  try  for  'em  on  the  way  back. 

Then  I  got  out  an  oar  astern,  and  sculled  slowly 
alono-  through  it.  Where  it  narrowed,  there  was  a 
shoal  bank  of  gravel  on  the  side  toward  the  hill,  that 
ran  out  half-way  across.  We  went  right  along  over 
it,  in  about  a  foot  of  water,  with  the  bottom  paved 
with  stones  of  all  shades  of  deep  orange-red  and 
brown. 

And  in  a  minute  we  saw,  and  no  mistake,  that 
there  was  a  current  down-stream.  Not  much  of  a. 
current,  but  it  was  there. 

"  The  salt  water's  helped  us  as  far  as  it  can,  this 
time,"  said  I,  "and -it's  a  deal  further  than  I 
expected." 

''Yes;  it'll  be  up-hill  work,  after  this.'' 

But  there  was  no  difference  to  notice,  yet  ;  and 
when,  in  the  course  of  a  few  yards,  we  got  off  the 
shoals,  it  was  next  to  nothing. 


CHAPTER  X. 

So  on  we  went ;  and  after  a  while  we  came  to  a 
patch  of  woods,  mostly  oaks,  with  some  pines  and 
birches.  It  seemed  like  twilight  in  there,  and  we 
hurried  to  get  out  of  it ;  for  we  wanted  to  pitch 
our  first  camp  before  the  daylight  gave  out. 

The  woods  didn't  seem  pleasant  for  camping ; 
the  trees  were  pretty  close  together,  and  there  was 
lots  of  underbrush ;  it  looked  damp  and  swampy, 
too  ;  and  the  mosquitoes  squealed  their  finespun 
tunes  about  our  ears.  We  each  took  an  oar,  and 
pulled  away  at  a  good  rate  ;  partly  to  get  away 
from  them,  and  partly  to  get  out  of  the  woods 
before  dark  ;  for  we  didn't  know  how  large  they 
might  be. 

Fortunately,  the  stream  didn't  crook  very  badly 
in  here  ;  as  it  was,  we  bumped  her  nose  into  the 
bank  at  two  of  the  bends  ;  and  at  last  I  took  the 
bow  oar,  and  made  shift  to  row  facing  forward  ; 
then  I  could  look  out  for  the  direction. 

It  seemed  as  though  we  kept  at  it  that  way  for  an 
hour  and  a  half;  but  it  was  only  a  little  over  three- 
quarters  by  the  watch.  Then  we  saw  the  trees 
thinner  ahead,  and  presently  came  out  on  a  wide 
sweep  of  meadow,  with  a  herd  of  cows  standine 
and  mooing  around  a  gate  in  the  further  corner  ' 

78 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  ?p 

on  the  other  side  of  the  gate,  a  lane  led  to  a  barn 
some  distance  away.  That  pasture  was  well  cropped; 
'twas  no  wonder  the  beasts  were  ready  for  supper. 

It  didn't  seem  so  late,  now  ;  for  the  sun  was  no 
longer  shut  out  from  us  ;  we  knew,  of  course,  it 
didn't  set  till  after  seven,  but  we  didn't  know,  till 
we  found  out  for  ourselves,  how  long  the  river  staid 
in  those  woods. 

I  took  my  oar  to  the  stern,  and  Joe  pulled  along 
easily.  After  we  passed  the  meadow,  there  was  an 
orchard  on  the  left,  with  plenty  of  apples ;  but  they 
were  too  green  for  even  a  boy  to  eat.  Then  we 
came  to  quite  a  high,  steep  hill,  with  gray  rocks 
cropping  out,  here  and  there  ;  dozens  of  juniper, 
or  "savin"  trees,  of  all  sizes,  were  growing  around 
and  among  the  rocks. 

This  hill  rose  up  right  in  front  of  us;  but  the 
river  didn't  run  over  it ;  that  may  be  the  way  of 
roads,  but  not  of  rivers.  It  curved  off  to  the  east, 
along  the  base. 

Soon  after  we  turned  there  was  a  sort  of  bump- 
ing scrape  along  the  bottom  ;  enough  to  startle  us 
a  little,  but  it  did  no  harm.  We  knew  what  it  was  ; 
one  of  the  rocks  from  the  hill  had  got  into  the  river, 
and  rose  almost  to  the  top  ;  I  could  see  it  plainly 
enough  as  soon  as  we  had  scratched  over  it. 

"  We  must  remember  this  place,  Joe  ;  if  the  water 
had  been  an  inch  or  two  lower,  we  wouldn't  have 
got  off  so  easily." 


80  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

"  Better  keep  your  eye  peeled  for  another,"  said 
he. 

We  coasted  around  the  hill  to  its  eastern  slope, 
when  the  stream  turned  to  the  north  again.  On 
our  left  rose  the  rocks  and  junipers  ;  it  was  quite  a 
steep  and  rugged  ascent  here,  and  it  cast  a  long 
shadow  to  the  eastward,  over  a  sort  of  scrubby  pas- 
ture,— patches  of  grass,  mixed  up  with  huckleberry 
bushes  and  clumps  of  ''bay-berry"  or  wax-myrtle, 
and  groups  of  stunted  oaks  and  junipers. 

We  could  see  there  were  plenty  of  berries  on  the 
bushes ;  and  I  brought  her  up  to  the  bank  a  few 
moments,  while  Joe  jumped  ashore  and  cut  off  some 
of  the  thickest  loaded  ones,  which  he  threw  into  the 
boat. 

In' due  time  the  hill  rounded  off  to  the  west  and 
the  river  curved  in  the  same  direction  ;  but  now  it 
did  not  hug  the  base  quite  so  closely.  Now  the 
trees  in  the  pasture  grew  quite  thick  and  woody, 
but  only  for  a  little  while  ;  presently  they  all  stopped 
at  an  old  stone  fence,  and  here  was  a  long  stretch 
of  green  meadow,  with  the  sun  glinting  across,  and 
the  river  making  two  or  three  bends  through  it, 
before  it  slipped  into  a  clump  of  willows  on  the 
further  side. 

A  little  way  ahead  was  a  washout  on  the  hill-side, 
where  the  storms  had  laid  bare  the  sand  and  gravel, 
which  had  spread  away  down  to  the  water,  making 
a  rounded,  sandy  point,  around  which  the  channel 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  81 

curved  ;  here  the  river  was  quite  narrow,  but  beyond 
it  widened  out,  making  a  little  lake. 

There  was  a  decided  current  in  the  narrows, 
enough  to  slow  us  up  some  ;  but  when  we  got 
through  into  the  pond,  so  bright  and  clear,  with  lit- 
tle dimplings  here  and  there,  where  the  water- 
beetles  were  darting  and  whirling  about,  and  the 
green  turf  sloping  down  into  it  from  the  hillside, — 
"Here's  the  place  for  us  to  camp!"  cried  Joe, 
and  as  for  me,  I  was  just  going  to  say  the  same. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

We  pulled  the  Triton  up  half-way  ashore,  and 
bundled  out  our  things.  We  slipped  the  sail  off  the 
mast ;  then  we  took  the  sprit  and  made  one  end  of 
it  fast  to  the  mast  at  the  top  ;  we  shipped  the  mast, 
and  lashed  one  of  the  oars  to  it,  about  two  feet  up. 

Then  we  lashed  the  other  end  of  the  oar  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  sprit  and  carried  the  cord,  down 
on  each  side  of  the  cleats  in  the  boat,  where  the 
sheet  was  belayed  in  sailing;  this  kept  the  oar 
steady  lengthwise  in  the  middle  of  the  boat.  Thus 
we  had  a  sort  of  figure-four  arrangement. 

Then  we  unrolled  one  of  the  blankets,  took  out 
the  "cot"  which  was  wrapped  up  inside,  and  un- 
folded it.  This  was  made  of  stout  "drilling,"  with 
a  cord  sewn  in  around  the  edge,  like  a  sail ;  it  was 
cut  to  fit  the  shape  of  the  boat, —  wider  at  one  end 
than  the  other. 

The  Triton  had  a  good  sized  "  fender-strake " 
around  the  gunwale ;  into  the  under  side  of  it  I  had 
driven  round-headed  brass  screws,  five  on  each  side 
of  the  forward  part  of  the  boat ;  the  heads  were  left 
sticking  out  a  little.  There  were  five  loops  on  each 
side  of  the  cot,  at  distances  to  match ;  so  we  only 
had  to  button  the  loops  over  the  screw-heads,  and 

the  cot  was  slung  securely  across  the  boat ;  reach- 

82 


0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  83 

ingf  from  the  main  thwart  to  the  little  forward  deck 
where  the  mast  was  shipped.  Of  course  we  took 
out  the  forward  thwart;  you  see  now  why  we  had 
made  it  removable. 

Now  we  took  the  sail — which  was  to  be  a  tent 
over  night, —  and  threw  it  across  the  oar,  which  was 
the  ridge-pole.  The  "head"  or  top  of  the  sail, 
being  narrower  than  the  foot,  we  brought  up  against 
the  mast,  where  the  boat  was  narrower,  after  draw- 
ing it  down  smoothly  on  each  side,  we  tacked  it 
along  the  fender.  It  lapped  over  some,  up  forward, 
but  there  was'nt  much  to  spare,  where  the  boat 
widened  out. 

Then  we  spread  the  blanket  over  the  cot,  and 
there  was  a  bed  and  shelter  at  short  notice.  It 
looked  snug  enough ;  altogether  two  snug  for  two, 
but  of  course  we  knew  that  beforehand ;  and  we 
had  brought  along  the  means  for  rigging  another 
shelter. 

We  went  up  a  few  steps  from  the  water,  and  drove 
down  four  stakes  which  we  had  brought  with  us,  so 
that  they  stood  at  the  corners  of  a  space  three  by 
six  feet.  In  the  other  blanket  was  another  cot,  the 
sides  of  which  were  folded  over  so  as  to  make  a  wide 
hem,  of  a  size  to  fit  the  oars,  which  we  ran  in  just 
as  the  stick  is  run  in  at  the  bottom  of  a  window 
shade.  Part  of  the  oars  stuck  out  at  each  end,  so 
that  we  could  lash  them  at  the  top  of  the  stakes. 

Then  we   drove  two  longer  stakes  opposite  the 


84  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

middle  of  the  head  and  foot,  with  a  line  stretched 
between  the  top  ends  for  the  ridge-pole  ;  this  line 
was  brought  down  from  the  stakes  to  pins  in  the 
ground,  so  the  tent  shouldn't  sag;  the  other  stakes 
were  secured  in  the  same  way. 

This  time,  the  tent  was  not  adapted,  like  the  sail, 
but  made  expressly  for  the  purpose  ;  with  flaps  which 
could  fold  across  each  end  and  button,  to  keep  the 
wind  off.  It  had  holes  at  each  corner,  worked  with 
"  button-hole  stitch,"  and  through  these  we  tied  it  to 
the  stakes,  and  pinned  the  edges  to  the  cot,  along 
the  oars.  Then  we  spread  the  blanket  inside,  and 
our  camp  was  pitched. 

But  all  was  not  complete,  yet.  There  was  a  small 
roll  made  up  of  four  pieces  of  mosquito-netting; 
these  we  fastened  with  safety-pins  across  both  ends 
of  each  tent;  lapping  and  folding  so  as  to  make  all 
tight  against  the  little  sharp-nosed  intruders. 

Now  we  stood  off  and  looked,  and  we  felt  pretty 
proud.  There,  where  half-an-hour  before,  there  was 
nothing,  were  our  two  little  white  houses  all  built. 
We  could  hardly  wait  till  dark  to  try  them; — it  was 
our  first  camping-out,  you  know. 

Then  we  had  to  find  out  "  which  was  to  have 
which;"  and  Joe  took  off  his  hat. 

"Now,  who'll  have  the  boat!"  and  he  slung  it 
high  in  the  air. 

"Sing  out  which  you'll  have  !  " 

"  Heads  !  "  said  I. 


H  If    ••  f§8|  "  -i   -     i 

■■v\y  ■':■■■■  ■ 


OUB  TWO  LITTLE  WHITE  HOUSES. 


35 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  87 

It  came  down  on  the  sail,  and  rolled  off  on  the 
farther  side ;  and  when  we  went  around,  it  was 
crown  up.  If  we'd  cared,  we  might  have  said  it 
wasn't  fair ;  but  we  didn't  care,  so  I  was  to  have 
the  boat. 

Then  we  said  we'd  go  up  on  the  hill  and  eat  sup- 
per, and  fill  our  pillows.  These  were  nothing  but 
bags  fixed  to  button  across  the  mouth  ;  we  were 
going  to  fill  them  with  leaves. 

So  up  we  went ;  and  it  was  worth  while  going  up 
to  get  the  view.  We  could  see  glimpses  of  the 
river  here  and  there,  a  long  way  down  to  the  south, 
and  could  make  out  the  salt  meadows  we  had  come 
through  that  morning ;  and  with  Joe's  little  glass 
we  thought  we  could  see  the  causeway  over  which 
the  road  led  to  Wylie's  bridge.  A  clump  of  big  trees 
rose  up  a  good  way  off,  and  covered  where  we 
thought  the  bridge  ought  to  be. 

But  one  thing  we  were  sure  of  —  the  Pierhaven 
spires.  Nobody  who  was  ever  brought  up  under 
those  steeples  could  mistake  them.  They  were  as 
small  as  could  be  to  show  at  all,  twinkling  away 
off  on  the  horizon ;  but  the  glass  cleared  them  up 
enough  to  leave  no  doubt.  Below  them  we  could 
see  a  little  gleam  of  the  river  below  Wylie's  bridge 

"  We're  in  sight  of  home  still!"  said  Joe. 

"  Yes ;  but  we've  come  a  pretty  long  way  to-day, 
around  all  those  bends." 

"  Farther  than  we'll  go  any  other  day,"  said  he. 


38  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

u. 

"  We've  got  the  current  to  reckon  with  from  this 
time  on." 

We  faced  round  to  the  north  to  see  what  we  were 
coming  to  ;  but  couldn't  make  out  much.  We  could 
see  the  river  in  only  two  places,  after  it  left  the 
meadow  below  us,  and  those  were  within  a  mile;  so  we 
thought  it  must  run  among  woods  more  than  it  had 
yet. 

But  we  could  see  spaces  of  open  country,  too  ;  and 
some  hills,  two  or  three  miles  off,  higher  than  the  one 
we  were  on,  for  they  reached  above  the  horizon  line. 

The  meadow,  below  us,  was  almost  all  in  shade  ; 
but  the  river,  reflecting  the  sky,  looked  brighter 
than  ever,  and  the  sun  struck  across  the  tops  of  the 
willows  beyond. 

There  lay  our  little  tents,  at  the  water's  edge,  — 
how  very  little  and  lonely  they  looked !  And  yet 
that  was  home  to  us,  for  to-night. 

"Just  think,  Joe!"  said  I,  "that's  the  same  boat 
that  lay  at  the  wharf  this  morning.  We  didn't 
have  the  least  idea  then  how  the  place  would  look 
where  we  are  now." 

"  Well,  now  we  know ;  and  it's  a  pretty,  pleasant 
place.  I'd  rather  be  here  than  there  ;  and  so  would 
most  of  the  fellows,  I  guess  !  " 

"  So  they  would.  They're  coming  home,  about 
now,  from  fishing  or  tramping,  or  playing  around 
the  wharves ;  but  I  don't  believe  many  of  them  have 
had  as  good  a  time  as  we." 


0  UR  WEEK  A  EL  OAT.  89 

"  I  guess  most  of  them  "are  at  supper,  by  this 
time,"  remarked  Joe,  "and  I  move  we  follow  suit." 

So  we  sat  down  on  some  smooth  rocks  ;  and  the 
bountiful  bags  swung  open  again 

Looking  eastwardly  we  could  see  several  houses 
about  a  mile  off ;  they  seemed  to  be  arranged  in 
line  as  though  along  a  road,  making  a  little  settle- 
ment, and  there  was  a  white  church  tower,  or  cupola, 
a  rather  queer  affair,  as  we  saw  it  through  the  glass, 
"like  a  drum  on  a  soap-box,"  said  Joe. 

"  Wouldn't  this  be  a  prime  place  for  a  fort  against 
the  Indians!"  he  went  on.  "Here's  the  river  on 
three  sides ;  and  if  they  did  get  across,  we  could 
pepper  'em  to  pieces  before  they'd  scrambled  half- 
way up  this  steep  slope.  Just  run  a  stone  wall 
between  a  dozen  of  these  biggest  rocks  'round  here, 
and  we'd  be  ready  for  the  whole  tribe  of  'em  ! " 

"  That  sounds  very  well ; "  said  I,  "  but  if  you  saw 
a  gang  of  red-skins  skipping  across  that  huckleberry 
pasture,  all  painted  up,  and  yelling  to  you  to  '  hold 
the  fort,  for  they  were  coming,'  how  you'd  streak  it 
for " 

"  Not  a  bit ;  I'm  politer  than  that.  I'd  treat  'em 
on  pie  and  hard-tack,  and  swap  our  blankets  for  a 
whole  boat-load  of  furs ;  we'd  go  back  rich  ! " 

"Well,  then,  I'm  glad  they're  not  coming;  for  I 
want  that  other  piece  of  pie  myself !" 

We  had  brought  our  huckleberry-bushes  with  us ; 
and  when   we  shut  the  bags,    we  took  them   and 


go  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

sauntered  around,  picking  and  eating  as  we  walked. 
The  sun  had  now  gone  down,  and  the  sky  was 
mostly  clear ;  but  some  long,  slate-colored  clouds  lay 
low  down  along  the  west,  with  red  streaks  between ; 
and  above  them  some  light  filmy  yellow  streamers 
went  sweeping  up,  and  higher  still  were  bars  of 
what  we  called  "mackerel-sky,"  dappled  white  and 
gray, — but  the  proper  name  is  cirrus-cloud ;  so  the 
books  say. 

We  picked  our  bushes  clean ;  and  then  Joe  was 
for  going  down. 

"  It's  getting  dark,  and  I'm  plum  tired." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  I  told  him,  "we  haven't  filled 
the  pillows." 

We  went  and  got  out  the  bags,  and  carried 
them  to  a  good-sized  bayberry  bush  on  the 
south  slope.  Bayberry  leaves  were  just  the  thing 
for  that ; — small  and  clean,  and  not  juicy  so  they'd 
mash  up, —  and  they  smell  good,  too. 

While  we  were  stuffing  our  bags,  the  west 
blazed  out  bright  again ;  the  streamers  and  mack- 
erel-sky were  all  orange-red  and  rose-color, — just 
lovely. 

"That's  good  for  us!"  said  Joe,  "it  means  fine 
weather." 

Then  it  turned  dull  and  gray,  and  we  plodded 
down  to  our  camp.  While  we  were  undressing,  the 
mosquitoes  tickled  about  some;  but  as  we  were 
fixed  for  them,  that  was  all  the  better.     There's 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  p/ 

no  comfort  in  being  secure,  if  there's  nothing  to  be 
secure  against. 

I  tucked  my  clothes  in  the  locker  at  the  stern, 
and  Joe  found  room  to  stow  his  at  the  lower  cor- 
ner of  his  cot,  which  was  bigger  than  mine.  He 
crawled  in,  and  called  to  me  to  pin  the  mosquito 
netting  again,  where  he  got  through. 

I  told  him  that  would  never  do.  "  You'll  be 
locked  in,  and  I  can't  have  you  yelling  to  me  to  let 
you  out,  at  any  outrageous  hour  you  may  happen  to 
fancy!" 

But  I  held  it  for  him  while  he  pinned  it  from 
inside.     "  How  is  it  ?" 

"  First-class!  "  said  he  ;  "as  easy  as  a  hammock!  " 

He  bagged  it  down  to  within  two  or  three  inches 
of  the  ground  ;  but  an  inch  was  as  good  as  a  mile. 
There  wasn't  any  wind,  so  he  left  the  flaps  at  the 
foot  wide  open  ;  at  the  head  he  fastened  the  lower 
buttons,  leaving  a  hole  at  the  peak. 

I  went  down  and  sat  on  the  stern,  rinsing  my  feet 
in  the  water;  then  lifted  the  netting  and  floundered 
in.  How  cosy  it  seemed!  and  plenty  big  enough, 
too :  and  this  was  the  little  white  speck  I  had  seen 
from  the  hill-top,  with  the  great  world  stretching 
far  away  around  it.  A  warm,  dim,  creamy  light 
came  through  the  sides  of  the  tent.  In  front  was 
a  three-cornered  bit  of  light-gray  sky,  above  a  dark 
mass  of  trees  blending  into  the  meadow  ;  then  a 
watery  gleam  close  by. 


p2 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


The  crickets  were  chirping  their  best;  and  every 
few  moments  a  frog  would  let  himself  off,  now  near, 
now  further  off.  I  could  see  nothing  of  Joe  or  his 
tent,  I  seemed  entirely  alone,  but  it  was  just  jolly! 

except,  perhaps 

"Say!"  I  heard  Joe  call  out. 
"What!"  I  called  back,  putting  my  face  to  the 
small  opening  above  my  head,  where  the  peak  of 
of  the  sail  folded  around  the  mast. 

"  Aren't  these  blankets  fearfully  scratchy  ? 

"I  was  just  think- 
ing I  wished  they 
were  a  little  smooth- 
er," I  replied.  "I'm 
afraid  we're  not  up 
to  roughing  it  yet." 
"There's  no  need 
of  it! "said  he,  "I'm 
going  to  put  on  my 
drawers." 

This  was  a  good 
idea,  and  I  acted  on  it ;  but  I  had  to  crawl  out, 
again,  to  get  at  the  stern-locker.  It  was  getting 
pretty  dark  now  and  cooler.  The  boards  of  the  boat 
were  damp  with  dew.  I  couldn't  see  Joe,  in  the 
shade  of  his  tent ;  but  I  could  hear  him  well 
enough. 

"Suppose  you  should  slink  off  before  I  was  up  ! 
wouldn't  I  be  in  a  pretty  fix !  you've  got  all  the 


O  UR  WEEK  A  FLO  A  T.  pj 

stores  aboard.  But  I'd  have  your  scalp,  sooner  or 
later!" 

"  Never  mind  about  what  you'd  do  ;  I  want  you 
along  to  help  row.  If  you  want  any  security,  I'll 
bundle  the  bags  in  with  you  !" 

"  No,  thanks.  What'll  you  do  if  the  tide  rises?" 
he  went  on.     "  Have  you  moored  her  ?" 

We  had  thrown  out  our  little  grapnel,  as  usual, 
on  landing ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  was  enough. 

"  No  fear  about  the  tides  getting  up  as  far  as 
this !"  said  I. 

"  But  if  there  should  be  a  freshet?  a  good  solid 
thunder-storm  might  raise  the  stream  a  foot  or  two." 

"Wouldn't  I  laugh  if  it  did!"  I  cried.  "You'd 
wake  up  nice  and  cool!  I'd  ride  as  safe  as  Noah's 
ark,  while  you'd  be  floundering  like  herring  in  a 
seine!  But  I'd  want  to  be  on  hand  to  see,  so  I 
guess  I'll  tie  up." 

So  I  took  the  painter  and  fastened  it  to  one  of 
his  cot  stakes.  "  I'll  tie  it  around  your  ankle,  if 
you're  afraid  of  my  giving  you  the  slip."  But  he 
guessed  the  stake  would  do. 

Then  I  got  in  again ;  it  seemed  nice  and  warm, 
and  the  blanket  didn't  scratch  now.  Pretty  soon  it 
seemed  rather  too  warm,  but  I  knew  it  would  be 
cooler  toward  morning,  and  didn't  think  it  best  to 
throw  off  the  blanket. 

Then  I  remembered  that  I  was  a  little  thirsty, 
and  had  meant  to  take  a  drink  when  I  was  out  be- 


94  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

fore,  but  forgot  it  after  all.  I  was  wide  awake 
enough,  but  hated  to  take  the  trouble  to  go  out  once 
more ;  and  I  must  have  gone  to  sleep  while  I  was 
trying  to  make  up  my  mind  about  it.  I've  noticed 
that  before  —  there's  nothing  '11  put  you  to  sleep 
quicker  than  to  think  of  something  not  very  im- 
portant, but  something  which  perhaps  you  ought  to 
get  out  and  attend  to. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

I  was  awakened  by  a  tremendous  splashing,  and 
at  first  couldn't  make  out  where  I  was,  or  what  was 
the  matter, —  then  I  saw  it  was  Joe,  kicking  about 
in  the  water  in  front  of  me. 

"  Hurrah  !"  he  shouted,  "come  on  in,  and  wash 
your  eyes  open  !  " 

"  Well,  quit  splashing  into  the  boat,  and  I'll  see  !  " 
and  I  crawled  out,  half  awake,  and  shivering  in  the 
chilly  morning  air. 

"  Come  on  !  "  cried  Joe,  again,  "  the  water 's 
warmer  than  the  air  !  " 

"  It  might  be,"  said  I,  "  and  still  not  be  very 
warm  ! " 

"  It's  a  splendid  sandy  bottom  !  "  he  went  on,  and 
he  plunged  across  to  the  deeper  part,  and  struck 
out  up-stream. 

But  he  was  more  of  a  water  dog  than  I  ;  and 
after  washing  my  face  and  neck,  and  taking  the 
drink  postponed  from  the  evening  before,  I  pro- 
ceeded to  get  into  my  clothes. 

Joe  shortly  came  ashore,  and  also  began  to  dress. 

"  How  long  have  you  been  up  ?"  I  inquired. 

'''Bout  quarter  of  an  hour.    ■  How'd  you  sleep?" 

"  Slept  right  through  ;  did  you  ?  " 

"Not  quite;  I  woke  up  a  little  after   two;  —  a 

95 


g6  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

mosquito  did  it,  I  think ;  one  was  in,  anyhow  ;  and 
I  found  where  he  got  in,  too  ;  where  the  cot  sagged 
away  from  the  netting.  I  fixed  that ;  and  it  wasn't 
long  before  I  was  off  again.  It  was  dark,  then,  I 
tell  you  ;  —  cloudy  all  over  ;  I  was  afraid  'twould  be 
bad  to-day,  for  all  that  sunset.  But  it's  come  out 
all  right." 

The  sun  was  just  rising,  among  broken  gold-gray 
clouds  ;  overhead  it  was  clear,  but  hazy  lower  down. 
A  light,  cool  breeze  from  the  north  was  rippling  the 
little  pond. 

"  So  you  didn't  forget  to  wind  ud  that  Water- 
bury  ?" 

"No,  but  I  came  near  it;  I  thought  of  it  just 
after  I  spoke  to  you  last.  When  I  woke  up  all  I 
had  to  do  was  to  strike  a  match,  and  there  was  the 
time.  I  couldn't  have  had  any  idea  without  it,  and 
no  stars  showing." 

We  ate  a  little,  so  as  not  to  work  on  an  empty 
stomach,  and  then  "struck  camp" — rigged  the  sail 
on  the  mast  again,  and  bundled  the  stakes  together; 
but  the  cots  and  blankets  were  just  a  trifle  damp, 
and  we  spread  them  out  on  some  rocks  facing  the 
sun.  We  went  up  on  the  hill  again,  but  it  was 
rather  misty,  and  we  could  not  see  as  far  as  on  the 
evening  before.  The  view  looked  quite  differently, 
with  the  light  coming  from  the  other  way ;  and  we 
saw  houses  to  the  westward  which  we  hadn't  noticed 
before. 


O  UR  WEEK  A  EL  O  A  T. 


97 


"  Well,  we're  fairly  started  in  for  explorers  !  'said 

Joe.      "  I  wonder  where  we'll  stop  to-night." 

"  It  won't  be  as  different  from  this  place  as  this 

is  from  where  we  were 
the  night  before.  We 
ought  to  pass  '  Shad 
Factory'  to-day." 

V  Yes  ;  I  only  hope 
we  won't  get  to  the 
head  of  navigation  ! 
But  there  won't  be 
much  of  a  river  left  by 
the  time  we  do  that." 
We  strolled  along 
to  the  top  of  the  wash- 
out,  and    looked    down    aslope    of    sand   as    high 

as    a    house    and    as 

steep    as     the     roof ; 

lower    down    it    grew 

less  steep,  and  by  the 

time  it  spread  into  the 

water    it   was   almost 

level. 

All  of  a  sudden  Joe 

skipped  back  about  a 

rod,  then  came  down 

with    a     rush,     and 

sprang  far  out  from  the  edge.      He  landed  near  the 

bottom  of  the  slope,  pitching  in  half-way  to  his  knees, 
7 


g8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

then  plunged  down,  sand  and  all,  three  or  four  yards 
farther. 

"  Come  on !  it's,  just  gay ! "  he  shouted. 

So  then  I  jumped.  We  tried  it  about  twenty 
times  ;  and  I  never  saw  a  better  place  for  a  sand- 
jump.  We  were  in  the  air  long  enough  to  know  it, 
and  wish  it  would  last  longer.  I'd  like  to  jump  a 
hundred  feet,  if  it  wasn't  for  the  "  stoppin'  so  quick! " 
as  the  Irishman  said. 

But  the  scrambling  up  again  was  tiresome  work, 
and  the  sun  was  getting  hotter  and  hotter;  so  we 
went  where  our  bedding  was  spread  out,  and  found 
it  was  dry  as  a  bone.  Then  we  loaded  it  aboard, 
and  moved  away  from  the  spot  where  we  had  passed 
the  night.  All  that  was  left  to  show  that  a  party 
of  explorers  had  camped  there  was  half-a-dozen 
stake  holes,  and  the  track  where  the  Triton  had 
been  drawn  up.  There  weren't -even  the  charred 
remains  of  a  fire. 

"  It's  the  first  camp  I  ever  heard  of  that  didn't 
have  a  fire,"  said  Joe.  "  We  ought  to  have  started 
up  one  so  as  to  be  in  style." 

"No;  make  a  style  of  our  own,  I  say  ;  we  had 
nothing  to  cook  ;  we  don't  drink  tea  or  coffee,  and 
we  were  warm  enough.  It  would  only  have  drawn 
the  mosquitos." 

"  We  ought  to  name  the  camp,  anyhow." 

"  All  right  ;  name  ahead." 

"Well,  let'ssee, —  Camp  —  Camp  Huckleberry." 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  .  pp 

"  Talk  about  style  !  "  I  laughed. 

"  Well,  I  didn't  really  mean  that ;  but  there's 
nothing  else  in  particular  about  the  place  that  I 
know  of,  unless  you  call  it  '  Camp  Washout.'  " 

"  Pshaw !  yes,  there  is.  We  got  the  widest  yiew 
from  that  hill,  that  we've  seen,  so  far.  .  Let's  call  it 
Camp  Prospect."      And  Camp  Prospect  it  was. 

By  this  time  we  had  pulled  through  the  little 
pond  and  were  in  the  current.  Joe  had  the  oars  : 
I'd  handled  them  more  than  he,  the  day  before. 

"  But  take  notice,"  said  he,  one  mile  of  pulling 
to-day  '11  be  equal  to  at  least  three  of  yesterday's  ! " 

After  the  willows  had  cut  off  our  view  of  Camp 
Prospect,  we  went  for  quite  a  while  through  a 
swampy  sort  of  region,  where  the  clumps  of  under- 
brush came  down  to  the  water,  and  kept  us  from 
seeing  very  far.  Once  we  heard  a  rattle  of  an  ox- 
team,  and  the  driver  singing  out  to  them  now  and 
then  but  we  could  see  nothing  ;  and  soon  they  were 
out  of  hearing. 

Sometimes  the  bushes  and  small  trees  grew  right 
out  of  the  water,  on  each  side  ;  and  all  along  they 
swept  the  surface  with  their  leaves,  so  that  in  a  good 
many  places  you  couldn't  see  where  the  land  began. 
The  wind  seemed  to  have  gone  down  ;  and  there  was 
hardly  a  sound  except  the  splashing  of  the  oars. 
Sometimes  the  bushes  crowded  up  so  that  there 
wasn't  much  room  to  spare  for  working  them. 

Now  and  then  a  frOg  would  ''kerchunk"  into  the 


loo      ■  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V. 

stream,  as  he  saw  us  coming  ;  and  sometimes  a  mud- 
turtle  would  slide  in.  Once  I  saw  a  whole  family 
of  them  sunning  on  a  log,  just  ahead,  and  told  Joe, 
who  poised  his  oar  to  give  the  end  of  the  log  a 
shove,  but  they  scrambled  in  all  together,  like  a 
shot,  just  before  he  hit  it. 

"  This  is  a  regular  wilderness  !  "  he  said  ;  "  I  won- 
der how  long  it  '11  be  before  we  get  through  it.  I'm 
going  to  time  it." 

So  he  looked,  and  found  it  was  quarter  past  seven. 
Then  he  pulled  away  again  ;  and  the  trees  grew 
thinner  on  the  east,  and  let  the  sun  through  pretty 
hot.  It  was  quite  swampy  here, —  bog-tussocks  in 
all  directions,  with  the  water  glistening  among  them. 

"  It's  a  deal  more  comfortable  in  the  boat  than  it 
would  be  footing  it  along  here,"  I  remarked. 

"Specially  if  you  ain't  rowing!" 

"Well,  I'll  take  hold  awhile  —  when  we  get  out 
of  the  wilderness  —  so  put  in,  Joe!" 

We  could  see  through  the  trees  that  the  land  was 
getting  higher  ahead ;  but  just  then  the  stream 
made  a  sharp  bend  to  the  right,  and  soon  we  were 
in  thicker  woods  than  ever.  We  couldn't  see  very 
far  in  any  direction,  for  the  course  kept  bending. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  soft  scrape  underneath,. and 
we  came  to  a  stop,  with  the  forward  part  lifted  a  lit- 
tle. We  looked  over,  and  saw  we  had  run  on  a  loe 
that  stretched  across  underneath  the  water.  It  was 
so  dark-colored  we  could  hardly  make  it  out. 


JOE  WENT  OVERBOARD  WITH  A  SLUMP. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  103 

"Shove  her  over,  Joe!"  and  I  got  up  to  help 
while  he  went  forward  to  get  a  better  "  purchase  ;  " 
then  she  tilted,  with  the  bow  down  and  stern  up  ; 
I  came  down  on  my  hands,  and  Joe  went  overboard 
with  a  slump! 

But  quick  as  a  flash  he  came  up  and  caught  the 
gunwale  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  drew 
forth  his  Waterbury,  and  laid  ,  it  on  the  thwart. 
Then  I  laughed. 

"  Come,  Joe !  a  Waterbury  oughtn't  to  mind  a 
ducking! " 

"  It  doesn't!"  he  returned,  "not  half  as  much  as 
you  would,  if  you'd  gone  in!  Put  it  in  my  bag,  will 
you  ?  Blame  this  log!  she's  balanced  on  it ;  it's  a 
regular  see-saw!" 

"  You  take  the  painter,  now  you're  over,  and  pull 
while  I  shove,"  said  I, 

"It's  muddy!"  he  replied;  "I'll  go  ashore  and 
pull." 

So  he  scrambled  up  the  bank,  and  I  threw  him 
the  painter,  and  we  got  her  off  in  a  jiffy.  Then 
we  waited  a  little  for  him  to  drip,  before  he  got 
aboard. 

"  The  Triton  s  cjettine  new  tricks ! "  he  said, 
"  bucking  and  throwing  her  passengers  !  " 

"  O  well,  she  ''sn't  responsible,  here  in  fresh  water!" 
♦  said  I.      "  She  isn't  used  to  it." 

"  I  wonder  if  the  salt's  soaked  out  of  her  planks, 
yet ! " 


104  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V. 

"  It's  in  a  fair  way  to  get  soaked  out  of  your  shirt ! 
Isn't  that  the  same  one  you  had  on  when  you  drop- 
ped from  the  Medords  bobstay  last  Thursday?'" 

"  Same  one  ! "  he  said  ;  "  and  the  salt's  there  yet !  " 
he  added,  chewing  the  faded  blue  flannel  sleeve. 
"  It'll  take  more  than  one  douse  in  this  mud-turtle 
creek  to  soak  that  old  Mattaconsett  brine  out ! " 

He  got  aboard,  and  sat  down  astern,  while  I  took 
the  oars. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Not  long  after,  the  woods  stopped  at  a  fence  that 
came  down  into  the  water  on  each  side  ;  there  was 
just  room  to  squeeze  through.  A  little  way  ahead 
was  a  bridge ;  and  this  side  of  it  were  two  cows 
standing  in  the  water ;  they  jumped,  I  tell  you, 
when  they  saw  us  come  splashing  out  of  the  woods 
towards  them,  and  galloped  off  a  little  way. 

Where  they  had  been,  the  river  widened  out,  and 
was  pretty  shallow,  hardly  two  feet  deep,  and  a 
road  came  down  and  ran  across  here,  right  through 
the  water.  There  was  quite  a  current  running  ;  but 
it  slackened  beyond,  where  the  stream  was  narrower, 
and  deep  again, —  and  there  was  the  bridge;  but 
it  was  only  three  planks  wide,  with  a  railing  on  one 
side ;  and  a  footpath  led  to  it  each  way,  from  the 
road.     We  had  to  bow  our  heads,  to  get  under. 

"  That's  good  economy,"  said  Joe;  "  no  need  of 
a  carriage-bridge,  when  you  can  ride  right  across 
the  river." 

"  What  time  do  you  make  it  ?  We're  out  of  the 
wilderness   now." 

joe  took  his  watch  out  of  the  bag,  and  said, 
"Three  minutes  of  eight.  Not  very  long,  consid- 
ering we  stopped  awhile  at  that  log." 

He  had  taken  out  a  napkin,  with  which  he  wiped 

103 


106  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

his  hands,  then  carefully  wiped  the  watch,  and 
opened  it. 

"  Not  a  drop  got  in!"  he  pronounced,  with  satis- 
faction. 

"  I  suppose  the  world  would  stop  turning 'round, 
if  anything  happened  to  that  old  turnip! "  I  observed. 

Joe  paid  no  regard  to  this,  but  put  his  turnip 
back  in  the  bag,  and  then  remarked,  "  I'm  wet 
enough  myself,  though  ;  and  I'd  like  to  haul  ashore 
in  some  sunny  spot,  and  take  a  dry." 

"All  right," — and  not  long  after  we  came  to  a 
rocky  hillside,  stretching  up  on  the  left.  I  pulled 
inshore,  and  tossed  out  the  grapnel.  Joe.  took  off 
his  clothes  and  spread  them  around  on  the  warm 
rocks ;  and  then  we  took  our  bags  up  under  the 
shade  of  a  big  oak,  and  had  breakfast.  This  time 
we  cleaned  out  everything  but  a  few  eggs  and  the 
hard-tack,  and  the  canned  salmon.  The  bags 
weren't  so  heavy  as  they  had  been,  by  a  deal. 

"  We'll  try  for  fish,  in  the  next  pond  we  come  to," 
I  said.  "  Let's  depend  on  ourselves,  as  far  as  we 
can." 

There  were  some  patches  of  huckleberries  fur- 
ther up,  and  we  picked  for  half  an  hour  or  so,  while 
the  clothes  were  drying,  and  nearly  filled  Joe's  pail. 

Then  he  dressed  ;  and  our  exploring  expedition 
again  moved  up  the  river.  The  huckleberry  patches 
grew  thicker  as  we  went  on,  and  came  down  close 
to  the  water  ;  presently  we   saw   two  sun-bonnets 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  107 

bobbing  about  among  the  bushes,  a  blue  and  a 
white  one. 

When  we  came  up,  we  found  there  was  a  woman, 
a  girl  about  twelve  years  old,  and  two  little  boys ; 
all  busily  picking  away.  Joe  asked  the  old  question, 
"  How  far  to  Shad  Factory," — and  this  time  it  was 
about  a  mile. 

"  By  the  road,  that  is;  but  I  guess  you  11  find  it  a 
good  deal  further.  Do  you  know  anybody  up 
there?" 

"  No  ;  just  going  up  for  the  fun  of  it." 

"  Where're  you  from  ?" 

"  Pierhaven." 

"  Land  sakes  !"  and  she  looked  as  if  she  thought 
we  were  runaways. 

I  thought  it  was  time  for  a  question  on  our  side  ; 
so  I  asked  how  many  berries  they'd  got ;  and  she 
said,  "  Pretty  near  a  bushel  now;  we've  been  pick- 
ing since  daylight.      When'd  you  start  from  there  ?  " 

"  Yesterday  morning  !"  I  called  back  ,  for  Joe  had 
set  the  oars  to  going  again. 

In  a  moment  or  two,  the  woman  went  on  picking  ; 
but  the  young  ones  watched  till  we  were  out  of 
sight. 

Now  the  river  flowed  alone  a  ledg-e  for  several 
rods,  where,  in  some  places,  the  rocks  rose  bare  right 
from  the  water,  as  it  did  at  the  island  down  below. 
After  getting  by  that,  we  turned  past  a  low  clump 
of  willows,  and  then  the  water  spread  out  among 


lo8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT, 

u. 

several  big  rocks  and  gravelly  islands,  with  four  or 
five  channels  winding  between  them. 

We  tried  the  widest ;  and  after  a  little  while,  the 
gravel  came  up  close  to  the  top ;  so  we  backed  out, 
and  tried  a  deep  one  between  two  rocks,  where  most 
of  the  water  seemed  to  come  through;  for  there  was 
a  swift  current. 

Joe  pulled  slowly  in  against  it,  I  sculling  to  help 
him  ;  soon  we  had  to  make  a  turn,  where  the  stream 
rounded  the  smaller  rock,  and  then  we  found  the 
way  so  narrow  that  we  never  could  have  got  by 
without  turning  the  boat  edgewise  ;  so  we  bumped 
and  scratched  back  out  of  that. 

"  This  is  getting  pretty  tough  !"  I  said. 

"Yes  ! — but  there's  one  place  left." 

But  when  we  came  to  look  at  that,  we  found  it 
was  altogether  too  narrow  and  crooked  ;  so  we 
made  up  our  minds  to  lighten  her  and  try  to  work 
her  over  the  first  place. 

We  pushed  to  where  it  shoaled,  and  ran  her  bow 
up  on  the  gravel.  Then  we  took  off  shoes  and 
stockings,  and  got  out  ;  that  lightened  her  enough 
so  we  could  haul  her  over ;  we  did'nt  have  to  go 
more  than  twice  her  length,  before  we  could  float 
ourselves  again. 

Then  pretty  soon  we  found  a  place  where  the 
main  current  struck  in,  and  gave  us  plenty  of  depth  ; 
but  it  was  rather  ticklish  work  still,  with  stones 
sticking  up  here  and  there,  and  the  current  twisting 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  /op 

about  and  slewing  her  bow  this  way  and  that. 
Though  we  kept  a  good  look-out  for  sunken  rocks, 
we  just  missed  running  square  on  one  nice  jagged 
specimen,  and  had  to  back  out  once  more. 

"I  wish  I'd  timed  that!"  exclaimed  Joe,  when 
we  at  last  got  through.  "  I  would,  if  I'd  known  we 
were  going  to  have  such  a  tussle  ! " 

"  Well,  we  haven't  got  to  the  head  of  navigation 
yet,  Joe  !" 

"  It  wouldn't  take  many  more  such  places,  though, 
to  make  me  think  we  were  getting  pretty  near  it ! " 

We  brought  up  to  the  bank,  to  rest  a  few 
moments  after  our  tugging  and  shoving.  Here  it 
was  quite  deep,  nearly  the  length  of  the  oar ;  and 
about  once  and  a  half  the  boat's  length  across  ;  so 
the  water  had  plenty  of  room,  and  the  current  was 
gentle. 

I  got  out  my  compass,  and  took  the  direction  of 
the  next  reach  ;  it  was  just  northwest  by  north.  It 
stretched  along  for  perhaps  thirty  yards  ;  the  land 
sloping  down  each  way,  with  woods  on  the  left,  and 
scattered  trees,  among  rocks,  on  the  other  side. 
Then  it  turned  to  the  right,  and  we  could  see  noth- 
ing further.  That  was  just  the  beauty  of  this  kind 
of  exploring  ;  you  couldn't  tell  anything  about  what 
you  might  see  the  next  minute. 

At  last  Joe  took  up  the  oars  again,  and  when  he 
had  rowed  a  few  strokes,  we  came  to  a  branch  open- 
ing  out   from    the   right,    about   large   enough  to 


no  O  UR  WEEK  A  EL  OA  T. 

crowd  the  boat  into.  We  saw  it  wasn't  an  "  afflu- 
ent," for  the  water  ran  into  it  out  of  the  main 
stream,  and  we  concluded  it  must  have  been  split 
off  by  the  tangle  of  rocks  below,  and  wandered 
farther  away  than  the  other  channels  before  return- 
ing to  the  river  again. 

Then  the  way  opened  north,  nearly  straight,  for 
quite  a  distance;  on  the  left,  the  bank  sloped 
steeply  down  from  the  level  field  above.  Where 
the  river  turned  again,  we  could  see  a  house  among 
the  trees. 

A  little  way  ahead,  a  fence  ran  down  to  the  bank, 
and  then  along  its  edge,  and  as  we  drew  nearer,  we 
saw  that  opposite  the  house  was  another  of  those 
little  ferry-boat  arrangements,  with  a  place  dug  into 
the  bank  for  a  harbor  for  the  boat,  and  stone  steps 
leading  down  from  the  gate,  while  on  the  other  side, 
a  path  led  off  across  the  fields. 

A  little  white-headed  chap  was  hanging  to  the 
fence  palings,  looking  through  at  us. 

"  Hullo,  bub  !  "  hailed  Joe. 

"  Hul-lo  !  "  he  said. 

Then  a  little  terrier  ran  down  and  put  his  nose 
through  the  fence,  and  yapped.  As  we  passed 
along,  he'd  run  along,  too,  a  few  feet ;  then  put  his 
nose  out,  and  sauce  us  again.  He  wanted  terribly 
to  get  through  and  devour  us,  but  couldn't. 

Joe  dipped  his  hand  in  and  splashed  some  water 
up  at  him,  and  it  put  him  in  such  a  fury,  it  seemed 


OUR  WEEK  AELOAT. 


in 


as  though  he'd  bark  himself  inside-out.  He  had  to 
stop  at  the  fence  corner,  and  then  he  danced  around, 
while  the  little  chap  came  up  there,  too,  and  looked 
after  us.  We  heard  the  dog  keeping  it  up  for  a 
minute  or  two  after  we'd  eone  around  the  bend  out 
of  sisfht. 

We  saw  no  one  else,  but  it  was  rather  pleasant 
to  pass  so  near  a  house,  after  so  much  wilderness, 
even  if  we  were  saluted  by  nothing  more  than  a 
baby  and  a  puppy. 

Now  came  a  shady  reach  through  some  willows, 
followed  by  a  grove  of  tall  hickories,  many  of  which 
stood  at  the  water's 
edge,  with  the  big, 
gnarled  roots  washed 
bare.  Then  we  came 
on  a  little  bridge,  with 
a  fellow  lean  in  or  on 
the  rail,  fishing. 

He  was  a  chubby 
chap  about  ten  years 
old,  and  didn't  look  as 
if  he  cared  much 
whether  he  caught 
anything  or  not.  But  when  he  saw  us  coming,  he 
sung  out,  "  Hold  on  there!  you'll  scare  the  fish!" 

"  That's  cool!"  muttered  Joe.  Then  he  called 
out,  "We'll  scare  them  up  to  you,  more  likely.  Are 
there  any  there?" 


112  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

i. 

"  I've  caught  two." 

"  Lets  land  here,  and  see,"  I  suggested;  "  if 
they're  worth  trying  for,  we  can  join  in." 

So  we  jumped  ashore,  and  walked  up  to  the 
bridge. 

"  Where  are  your  fish?"  says  Joe. 

He  looked  at  us  a  moment,  then  seemed  to  think 
he'd  risk  trusting  us;  for  he  went  one  side  in  the 
bushes,  and  got  a  twig  with  two  little  round,  flattish 
fish  strung  on  it,  shaped  much  like  a  young  "scup" 
(or  "  porgy,"  as  they  call  them  New  York  way.) 
But  they  were  "  colored  up"  considerably  more, — 
a  greenish  olive,  speckled  with  reddish  spots;  and 
there  was  a  sort  of  an  eye-spot  on  the  edge  of  each 
gill-cover;  black,  with  a  red  border  part  way  around. 

"They're  bream!"  said  Joe. 

"  They're  punkin'-seed!"  corrected  the  boy, — and 
they  were  about  that  shape. 

"  So  now  we  know  what  punkin'-seed  are!"  said  I. 

'■  Can't  you  catch  anything  else  around  here?" 

'  There's  bull-points  in  Harlow's  pond,  above 
here, — and  they  get  pickerel  there,  too,  sometimes." 

"Well,  we're  going  there,  sonny,"  said  Joe, 
"and  I  guess  you'll  find  this  sort  of  fish  won't  scare 
worth  a  cent.  We'll  send  you  down  all  we  come 
across." 

"Where  be  you  from?"  he  then  asked. 

"  Pierhaven." 

"  Come  all  the  way  from  there  in  that  boat?" 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  113 

"We  did,  sonny." 

This  seemed  to  impress  him  so  much,  that  he 
said  nothing  more  against  our  passing,  but  came  down 
and  looked  at  the  Triton  and  her  belongings,  as  we 
got  aboard. 

When  we  came  to  the  bridge,  we  found  it  so  low 
that  it  was  rather  awkward  to  get  under ;  but  by 
crouching  and  pushing  we  managed  it,  and  moved 
off  up-stream  ;  leaving  the  fisherman  to  catch  his 
punkin'-seed  undisturbed. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Not  long  after,  we  came  to  a  split  in  the  stream; 
but  the  branch  was  much  smaller  than  the  main 
body  of  water,  and  we  were  not  sure  about  it's  being 
an  island.  It  turned  out  to  be  one,  though  ;  we 
reached  the  end  of  it  in  a  minute  or  two  ;  and  there 
were  two  smaller  ones  just  beyond  it, —  pretty  little 
islands,  with  willows  on  them  ;  and  between  the  wil- 
lows we  could  see  the  water  gliding  by  on  the  other 
side.  Then  the  banks  rose  again,  till  they  were  as 
hig  has  our  heads  on  each  side  ;  and  there  was  a 
little  rivulet  rippling  down  into  the  river. 

"  No  island  this  time  !  "  said  I,  "  that  comes  from 
some  spring." 

We  drew  up  to  it,  and  I  filled  the  cup  ;  it  tasted 
rather  better  than  the  river  water, — which  we  didn't 
fancy  much,  though  we  had  been  drinking  it  now 
and  then  all  day ;  —  still  it  was  rather  warm,  and  not 
exactly  what  we  wanted. 

"  If  I  thought  the  spring  wasn't  very  far,  I'd  take 
the  jug  up  and  fill  it,"  said  Joe. 

"  But  as  he  pulled  ahead,  I  suppose  he  had 
his  doubts  about  the  matter.  Presently  he 
pulled  out  his  watch  —  which  was  once  more  in  its 
usual  pocket  —  and  said,  "Ten  minutes  to  twelve! 
I  thought  I  was  feeling  empty." 

114 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  117 

"Very  well,  Joe,"  said  I  ;  "  I'll  take  up  the  oars 
till  twelve,  if  you  like,  and  then  we'll  fill  up." 

But  before  the  ten  minutes  were  up  we  came  on 
a  halting-place  which  we  agreed  wasn't  likely  to  be 
beat,  —  within  the  next  quarter  of   a  mile,  anyway. 

The  river  widened  out  a  little,  and  made  a  short, 
straight  reach  of  may  be  ten  boat-lengths.  About 
midway  was  a  little  cove  four  or  five  feet  deep, 
with  a  bright,  sandy  bottom  ;  and  almost  opposite 
was  a  great  beech  tree  rooted  on  the  edge  of  the 
bank,  which  for  some  reason  had  fallen  across  so 
that  its  branches  rested  on  the  other  bank  and 
propped  it  up;  and  it  made  a  kind  of  arch  over  the 
water,  as  much  as  ten  feet  high  in  the  middle. 

The  tree  was  growing  as  bravely  as  ever,  and 
was  thick  with  leaves,  waving  up  above  us  and 
trailing  in  the  water  from  the  lower  boughs.  The 
trunk  was  of  such  a  size  that  neither  of  us  could 
reach  around  it,  though  the  two  of  us  could,  easily 
enough;  and  the  bark  was  light  and  smooth,  as  is  al- 
ways the  way  with  beech  trees; — just  the  thing  for 
cutting  your  name,  and  somebody  had  dug  in  some 
letters, —  before  it  fell  over,  I  guess;  for  they  were 
so  cracked  and  bulged  we  found  it  hard  to  make 
them  out;  —  E.  L.  H.,  we  thought  they  looked 
like. 

Well,  we  brought  the  boat  into  the  cove,  and  sat 
down  on  a  little  plat  of  grass  in  the  shade  of  the 
beech,  where  we  ate  some  crackers  and  huckle- 
berries and  the  last  of  our  eggs. 


n8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Then  we  climbed  up  into  the  tree,  and  found 
lots  of  little  three-cornered  beech-nuts,  which 
weren't  fit  to  eat,  of  course;  we  wished  it  could 
be  a  couple  of  months  later,  just  for  a  few  minutes, 
We  got  out  our  knives  and  cut  our  initials  on  the 
smooth  side  of  one  of  the  big  boughs,  and  under 
them  I  put  the  date. 

When  we  came  down  I  proposed  going  over  to 
find  that  spring  and  fill  the  jug. 

Joe  said  we  ought  to  be  getting  on  to  Harlow's 
pond,  and  catch  some  fish  before  night ;  but  we 
finally  agreed  to  start  out,  and  if  we  didn't  reach  it 
in  fifteen  minutes,  to  give  up  and  come  back. 

So  I  took  my  pocket  folding  cup  out  of  the  bag, — 
one  of  the  kind  that  shuts  up  like  a  telescope, — 
and  we  went  back  along  the  bank  till  we  found  the 
streamlet,  and  then  followed  it  up.  It  led  us  across 
a  field,  and  under  a  fence,  (but  we  went  over,)  then 
it  spread  out  in  a  kind  of  swampy  place,  all  covered 
with  sweet-flag.  We  pulled  up  some,  and  nibbled 
at  the  roots ;  but  I  don't  fancy  it  much,  it's  so  bit- 
ter and  burning. 

Well,  we  didn't  know  but  that  was  the  last  of  our 
spring  ;  but  soon  we  picked  up  the  stream  again 
beyond,  and  followed  it  under  another  fence  into  a 
patch  of  woods. 

"  Eight  minutes,"  said  Joe,  as  we  entered  the 
woods  ;  so  on  we  hurried,  and  in  less  than  another 
minute  we  came  suddenly  on  it. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


u9 


The  water  bubbled  out  among  mossy  stones  into 
a  little  basin,  shaded  by  feathery  ferns  and  tall 
brakes,  and  a  perfect  tangle  of  wild  shrubbery  and 
vines;  two  slender  birches  rose  from  the  brink. 
Nothing  could  look  prettier  and  more  refreshing  on 
a  hot  July  day. 


THE  SPRING. 


Each  of  us  took  a  grood  drink,  and  it  was  first- 
rate,  and  cool  as  could  be.  We  were  afraid  of  roil- 
ing it,  if  we  tried  to  put  the  big  jug  under,  so  we 
filled  it  from  the  cup,  and  got  back  within  the  half- 
hour. 


120       „  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

It  made  us  hot,  hurrying  back  with  that  heavy 
jug  ;  and  this  time  when  Joe  proposed  a  bath  I  was 
quite  willing  to  join.  The  little  shady  cove  was  a 
capital  place  for  a  dip ;  and  we  swam  out  and 
caught  hold  of  the  beech  twigs,  and  let  the  cool 
current  slide  by  us. 

When  we  went  back  to  the  cove,  to  dress,  Joe 
who  was  ahead,  exclaimed,  "Hold  on  —  keep  still 
a  minute!"  and  he  began  to  reach  cautiously  for- 
ward for  something  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  on  the 
farther  side.  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  it  and  scrambled 
into  the  boat  as  quickly  as  I  could  get  there. 

"Joe,  let  it  alone!"  I  yelled,  so  loud  he  was 
startled,  and  held  back  a  moment. 

"Come  away  !  don't  touch  it ;  it's  a  scorpion  !  it'll 
kill  you  !" 

Then  he  laughed,  jabbed  out  his  hand,  and  picked 
it  up.  I  was  horrified,  and  expected  to  hear  him 
yell  every  instant ;  and  what  I  could  do  for  him,  I 
didn't  know. 

"  Didn't  you  ever  see  a  crawfish  before?"  and  he 
came  up  to  show  the  wriggling  object 

"  Don't  hold  it  over  the  boat !  Crawfish  ?  I've 
seen  the  word  often  ;  but  I  thought  it  was  a  fish, 
and  not  such  a  looking  beast !  It's  more  like  the 
picture  of  a  scorpion  than  anything  else  I  ever  saw  !" 

And  it  was.  It  had  two  big  claws, —  big  for  its 
size, —  and  along  tail;  altogether  it  was  nearly  as 
long  as  my  hand. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  121 

"  It  can't  hurt  you,  any  more  than  a  fiddler-crab. 
Its  a  kind  of  little  fresh-water  lobster,  don't  you 
see  i 

I  saw  that  it  didn't  seem  to  hurt  him  any  ;  but  I 
didn't  like  the  looks  of  the  creature,  and  felt  better 
when  Joe  flung  him  off  into  the  stream. 

I  suppose  the  boys  who  are  used  to  big  streams 
and  ponds  of  fresh  water,  will  think  I  was  a 
precious  ignoramus ;  but  this  was  the  only  piece  of 
running  water  in  our  region  that  you  couldn't  jump 
across ;  and  what  ponds  there  were  were  to  match. 
I  had  been  to  Boston  and  New  York,  but  never 
back  from  the  coast  any  distance  ;  and  if  any  fresh- 
water-fellows, such  as  don't  know  a  clam  from  a 
quahaug,  should  come  my  way,  I  reckon  I  could 
tangle  them  up  some ;  for  I'll  engage  to  show  ten 
salt-water  creatures  for  every  fresh-water  one  they 
can  bring  on. 

When  we  were  dressed,  I  took  the  oars,  and  on 
we  went  again.  We  turned  to  the  eastward  ;  and 
for  a  little  while  the  way  led  through  a  rather 
swampy  region,  of  no  particular  interest  ;  but  after 
we  had  rounded  about  a  dozen  bends,  there  was 
one  of  the  prettiest  sights  I'd  ever  seen. 

The  river  was  thickly  fringed  with  young,  slen- 
der trees,  on  each  side  ;  hardly  any  bigger  than 
your  wrist  ;  and  they  arched  over  and  ran  into  each 
other  above  our  heads,  with  ^aves  so  thick  we 
could  hardly  see  a  bit  of  sky  ;  still  there  were  plenty 


122  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT 

of  places  where  the  sun  struck  through,  so  that  the 
place  was  full  of  warm,  shimmering  light. 

This  stretched  straight  in  front  of  us  for  a  eood 
ways  ;  there  was  a  little  wind  outside,  for  the  leaves 
shook  and  quivered  a  trifle  here  and  there  ;  but  the 
water  was  perfectly  still,  except  where  the  little 
eddies  were  curling  and  spreading  ;  and  you  could 
hardly  tell  where  it  began,  and  the  air  left  off. 

It  was  a  orrotto  or  tunnel,  of  all  shades  of  bright 
and  dark  oreen ;  with  the  dark  trunks  and  twies 
stretching  up  over  and  branching  around  ;  and  then 
another  set  started  down  from  them  and  branched 
out  underneath — the  reflections,  you  know — and 
these  were  waving  and  running  together,  first  in 
one  place,  then  another. 

Joe  stopped  rowing,  and  I  sculled  gently  a  few 
moments,  just  enough  to  hold  her  against  the  cur- 
rent, while  we  looked  at  it.  It  seemed  a  pity  to  set 
to  and  row,  and  go  splashing  through  it,  but  of 
course  we  did. 

But  when  we  turned  the  corner,  there  was  just 
such  another  reach,  only  not  as  long.  Then  the 
trees  grew  larger,  and  the  underbrush  was  shorter 
and  more  scraggly  ;  so  it  wasn't  as  interesting. 

Later  on,  though,  we  came  to  another  lovely  tun- 
nel, which  would  have  been  as  handsome  as  the 
first  if  we  could  have  seen  as  much  of  it  at  a  time  ; 
but  it  kept  curving  around,  so  it  was  hard  to  tell 
how  long  it  really  was. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  123 

"  I  wonder  if  anybody's  seen  these  places  before  ?" 
said  I. 

"  Of  course  some  one  must  have,  some  time  or 
other  in  this  settled  region  ! " 

"  Well,  perhaps  so,  but  not  very  often,  I  guess. 
I  doubt  whether  it  ever  comes  into  people's  heads 
around  here  that  there's  anything  to  be  seen.  It's 
a  matter  of  course  to  them,  they've  always  known 
it ;  that  is,  they  see  it  where  the  roads  and  bridges 
go  across,  and  where  it  bounds  the  pastures,  and 
never  think  of  there  being  anything  more  to  it." 

"  But  we  know  there's  where  they're  mistaken  ! " 
remarked  Joe. 

"  Indians  may  have  come  paddling  down  through 
here,  sometimes,"  I  went  on,  "but  not  often,  I 
should  think.  They  wouldn't  find  any  use  in  it; 
the  things  they  hunted  were  on  land,  and  they  could 
scour  across  the  country  in  less  than  half  the  time 
it  takes  to  follow,  round  these  bends." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

After  this  reach  ended,  a  point  of  rocks  ran  into 
the  stream,  forcing  it  off  to  the  left,  where  it  ran 
quite  swiftly  through  a  narrow  channel. 

Beyond,  the  land  sloped  down  steeply  to  the 
water,  with  willows  fringing  along  the  shore,  com- 
ing out  brightly  against  the  dark  oaks  behind,  on 
the  slope.  Some  of  these  oaks  were  tall,  grand- 
looking  trees. 

"We've  been  shut  in  for  more  than  an  hour,  with 
never  a  glimpse  outside  !  "  declared  Joe.  "We've 
been  exploring  the  river,  I  know  ;  but  I'd  like  to 
see  something  more  of  the  country  we've  been 
through  ! " 

So  we  fastened  the  boat,  and  walked  up  the  hill 
to  a  place  where  we  could  look  between  the  trees 
over  the  way  we  had  come.  We  couldn't  see 
the  river  at  all.  We  thought  we  could  make  out 
where  it  flowed  under  the  trees  in  some  places  — 
where  they  were  in  long,  curving  lines  like  a  great 
hedge  ;  but  there  was  no  making  sure. 

We  weren't  very  high  up,  though  ;  and  I  don't 
believe  we  could  see  more  than  a  mile  in  any  direc- 
tion ;  and  behind  us  the  trees  rose  thickly. 

"  It's  plain  enough  that  the  only  way  to  see  this 
river  along  here,  is  to  sail  on  it,  the  way  we're 
doing,"  said  Joe. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  123 

"  And  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  we're  the  only  ones 
who  have  seen  it  for  some  time  back.  We've  seen 
only  one  boat  besides  our  own,  since  we  started, 
that's  fit  to  explore  in.  " 

We  found  the  banks  steep  tor  some  distance 
further,  sometimes  rocky,  with  junipers  and  birches, 
sometimes  thickly  wooded  with  oaks  or  hickories ; 
while  now  and  then  a  willow  would  trail  the  tips  of 
its  switches  in  the  stream. 

When  we  came  to  flat  country  again,  we  wound 
through  a  grove  of  oaks ;  the  trees  standing  well 
apart,  without  underbrush  ;  and  a  drove  of  hogs 
were  rooting  about.  Those  nearest  came  close  up 
and  grunted  inquiringly  from  the  bank ;  and  we 
replied  with  some  choice  imitations  of  pig's  music  ; 
but  I  doubt  whether  we  said  anything  they  under- 
stood. 

After  leaving  the  grove,  the  river  spread  out  to 
twice  its  ordinary  width,  and  the  current  was  very 
gentle  ;  so  we  made  good  progress.  We  could  see 
the  bottom  plainly;  it  wasn't  more  than  a  yard  deep. 

Soon  we  saw  a  rock  standing  out  alone  in  the 
middle,  with  a  flat  top  about  a  foot  above  water. 
Two  logs  met  on  the  rock,  one  leading  from  each 
shore;  we  didn't  expect  to  find  a  bridge  with  a  dou- 
ble span  so  far  up. 

There  was  hardly  more  than  room  enough  for 
the  boat  to  scrape  under;  so  we  got  out  on  the 
rock,  then  reached  down,  and  shoved  her  along 
through. 


126  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Now  an  old  worm-fence  came  down,  so  matteu 
and  tangled  with  vines  it  could  scarcely  be  seen; 
and  beyond  it  the  river  narrowed  again.  Soon 
there  was  a  perfect  jungle  of  bushes  and  small  trees 
on  either  side;  they  didn't  arch  over  gracefully,  but 
stuck  out  all  ways,  tangled  here  and  open  there;  and 
we  had  to  poke  them  out  of  the  way,  where  they 
stretched  across  and  dipped  in. 

The  stems  crowded  into  the  water  so  it  was  hard 
to  keep  the  oars  out  of  them;  and  when  we  had 
come  to  a  dead  stop  twice,  by  getting  caught  in 
sharp  turns,  Joe  thought  he  would  try  rowing  on 
one  side.  So  he  drew  in  his  starboard  oar,  and 
took  both  hands  to  the  other  one,  while  I  pointed 
her  a  little  way  from  the  middle. 

There  was  room  enough  now,  most  of  the  time  ; 
out  we  weren't  satisfied,  by  any  means  ;  for  the 
water  ran  swifter  through  here  than  at  any  place 
yet ;  and  though  I  helped  by  sculling  as  much  as  I 
could,  I  had  to  take  care  to  offset  his  one-sided 
work  ;  and  we  crawled  along  at  less  than  a  mile  an 
hour. 

So  we  tried  another  way.  We  both  stood  up  ; 
I  faced  sternways  and  thrust  at  the  tree-stems,  while 
Joe,  in  the  bow,  faced  forwards,  and  paddled  first 
on  one  side,  then  on  the  other ;  and  when  we  came 
to  a  bend,  he'd  jab  sideways  against  the  trees,  and 
force  her  bow  around. 

He  had  to  attend  to  the  steering,  now.  When 
he  sung  out  "  Steady!"   I  knew  there  was  a  straight 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  129 

stretch  ahead,  and  put  in  and  shoved  for  all  I  was 
worth.  When  we  came  to  a  bend,  he'd  call  "  port!" 
or  "  Starboard"  according  as  it  turned  ;  and  we'd 
fetch  her  around  as  well  as  we  could.  When  the 
bend  was  sharp  we  had  to  turn  her  as  though  she 
was  pivoted  amidships.  When  he  yelled  "branch!" 
I  knew  it  was  stoop  or  be  raked ; — and  he  had 
to  keep  that  racket  up  most  of  the  time.  My 
hat  was  scraped  off  the  first  thing,  and  we  lost  ten 
yards  before  I  got  it  again ;  I  didn't  put  it  on,  but 
stowed  it  in  the  boat. 

This  was  pretty  hard  work,  but  it  was  fun,  too ; 
and  we  certainly  went  a  deal  faster.  Anybody'd 
have  laughed  to  have  seen  us  —  the  boat  swaying 
and  pitching  along,  the  twigs  crackling  and  scratch- 
ing, and  we  digging  and  thrusting  every  way  like 
mad  ;  the  oars  slipping  now  and  then,  and  nearly 
letting  us  overboard.  But  it  wasn't  a  kind  of  work 
that  you  could  take  easy,  and  be  graceful  about ;  it 
had  to  be  done  that  way  or  not  at  all. 

Well,  we  staved  along,  till  I,  at  least,  was  nearly 
blown  ;  I  hadn't  had  much  idea  of  our  direction 
for  the  last  ten  minutes,  and  we  didn't  seem  to  be 
getting  anywhere. 

"Hold  on!"  I  panted;  "let's  tie  up  and  rest  a 
minute! " 

We  were  at  a  bend,  and  Joe  said,  "  It's  better 
ahead  ;  give  her  another  shove  or  two!" 

So  we  brought  her  into  the  next  stretch,  and  tied 


rjo  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V, 

up  to  a  limb.  It  was  a  little  better  ;  wider  and 
larger  trees.  But  as  soon  as  we  stopped  splashing 
we  found  the  air  was  full  of  a  low,  rushing  sound. 

"  A  waterfall! "  said  I.  "Or  rapids,  may  be,"  sug- 
gested Joe. 

There  was  something  of  the  sort,  no  doubt  ;  for 
here  and^there  little  foam  spots  came  floating  past 
us.  But  nothing  could  be  seen  beyond  the  leafy 
walls  of  the  short  reach  we  were  in. 

Of  course  it  wasn't  a  minute  before  we  were 
ready  to  go  ahead  again.  We  rounded  the  bend, 
and  the  noise  was  a  deal  louder,— close  by, —  but 
the  boughs  stretching  across  in  front  were  so  dense 
we  couldn't  see. 

We  could  see  the  water,  though  ;  and*  there  was 
something  there  besides  the  reflection  of  leaves  and 
sky, —  there  was  the  broken  wavering  image  of  a 
gray  stone  wall,  pierced  with  black  windows  !  We 
pushed  out  under  the  willows, —  and  ten  yards  in 
front,  the  river  was  lost  to  sight,  where  it  flowed 
from  the  dark  arch  of  a  mill  raceway  ! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Above  and  beyond  the  raceway,  rose  the  mill. 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  "  Shad 
Factory  "  towards  which  we  had  been  working  by 
such  a  winding  course. 

It  was  a  small  affair  for  a  cotton  factory  ;  stone- 
built,  on  the  further  side  of  a  road  which  led  across 
the  raceway,  and  up  the  hill  to  the  east.  The  trees 
grew  thick  and  tall,  from  where  we  were  clear  up 
to  the  road. 

Most  of  the  windows  were  thrown  open,  and  the 
clatter,  clack  and  buzz,  poured  out  among  the  tree- 
tops  ;  it  was  this  we  had  heard,  rather  than  the  rush 
of  water,  which  was  falling  over  the  dam  in  only 
two  or  three  slender  streams,  uniting  in  the  middle 
of  a  broad  channel  which  led  down  under  the  road, 
and  emptied  into  the  river  close  beside  the  arch 
before  us. 

"Shad  Factory  is  ours!"  cried  Joe.  "Let  us 
note  the  proud  moment — 3:17  p.m.  on  Tuesday, 
July  23d,  after  unexampled  struggles  and  catas- 
trophes, this  heroic  pair  beheld  the  goal  of  their 
indomitable  efforts ! " 

"But  even  then  their  zeal  knew  no  pause'"  I 
continued. 

"  Not  a  bit !  "  assented  Joe.     "  But  if  we  follow 

131 


IJ3      *  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

up  much  farther  on  this  line,  we'll  get  chawed  up, 
sure!  Our  galleon  '11  have  to  traverse  the  dusty 
earth  for  a  spell.  We'd  better  scare  up  some  of 
the  natives,  to  lend  us  a  hand  and  get  her  around 
the  dam  !" 

We  could  see  some  of  the  operatives  through 
the  windows,  busily  working  ;  but  they  hadn't  caught 
sight  of  us.  After  working  the  boat  up  against  the 
swift,  foam-speckled  current,  we  walked  up  the  bank 
on  our  left,  towards  the  road. 

We  now  saw  a  cluster  of  small  tenement-houses, 
the  homes  of  the  operatives.  A  woman  was  taking 
some  clothes  off  a  line,  and  near  her  a  few  hens 
were  scratching  about ;  a  little  girl  was  perched  in 
a  swing,  with  two  or  three  smaller  infants  frisking 
around  ;  and  a  big  yellow  dog,  chained  to  a  tree, 
was  so  fast  asleep  that   our  steps  didn't  rouse  him. 

The  only  creature  who  seemed  to  see  us,  was  a 
dirty-white  goat,  who  stood  stock-still,  and  kept  his 
eyes  steadily  on  us. 

We  didn't  stop  to  interview  any  of  these  people, 
for  we  had  caught  sight  of  a  few  boys  fishing  on  the 
edge  of  the  pond,  near  the  dam,  and  that  was  more 
like  what  we  wanted.  We  started  for  them  ;  and 
they  saw  us,  too,  and  looked  us  over  while  we  were 
coming  up. 

I  hardly  know  which  party  passed  the  most  cred- 
itable inspection  ;  we  weren't  wearing  our  best 
clothes ;    and  if  we  had  been,    they'd  have   gone 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  133 

through  enough  in  these  two  days  to  take  the  fresh- 
ness off.  Whatever  they  thought  of  us,  they 
seemed  a  rather  seedy-looking  set. 

Two  of  them  we  put  down  as  "  Frenchies,"  or 
French  Canadians,  such  as  were  common  among 
the  factory  workers  at  home  ;  the  other  three  were 
plainly  country  boys  of  the  neighborhood.  These 
last  were  about  our  age  ;  the  "  Frenchies,"  a  little 
older. 

They  had  among  them  nine  fish  ;  six  were  rather 
ugly,  big-headed  fellows,  six  or  eight  inches  long, 
black  above  and  light-colored  below,  and  without 
scales,  like  an  eel  ;  they  had  some  short  feelers 
around  their  lips,  and  queer  little  sullen-looking 
black  eyes,  with  white  rims.  These  were  "bull- 
pouts,"  or  cat-fish. 

The  rest  were  handsome  greenish-gold  fishes, 
with  half-a-dozen  dark  bands  across  the  back,  and 
half-way  down  the  sides ;  and  the  lower  or  "  ventral  " 
fins,  were  orange-colored.  Joe  told  me  afterward 
that  they  were  perch. 

He  spoke  first :  "  How  long  have  you  been  fish- 
ing?" 

"'Bout  two  hours,"  answered  one  of  the  country 
fellows. 

"  Not  biting  very  lively  to-day,  then  ?" 

For  a  moment  nothing  was  said,  then  one  ven- 
tured,  "You're  from  up  the  road,  ain't  you  ?" 

"No." 


134  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V, 

"  O,  you've  come  from  down  Woodword  way, 
then?" 

"  Not  that  either !"  said  Joe,  with  a  smile. 

"  Well,  which. way  did  ye  come,  then  ? " 

'■  Up  the  river." 

One  of  the  "Frenchies"  said  something  I  couldn't 
hear,  and  another  boy  said,  "  Oh,  they're  from  the 
brick-yard,  Bill  ! " 

'■  Not  a  bit !  we're  from  Pierhaven  ! " 

We  didn't  quite  fancy  being  taken  for  brick-yard 
boys. 

V  Gracious  !  d'you  come  all  that  to-day  ?  Got 
your  boat  here  ? "  he  went  on. 

"Yes;  and  there's  a  chance  for  you  fellows  to 
earn  a  quarter,  by  helping  us  to  bring  her  up  here 
to  the  pond." 

*  When  they  heard  that  they  thought  a  deal  more 
of  us,  and  they  dropped  their  poles  and  came  right 
along. 

"Ho!  she's  flat-bottomed  !"  said  Bill,  "we  can 
haul  her  right  over  !  " 

"  You  can  haul  her  on  the  grass,  but  we  must  lift 
her  the  rest  of  the  way  ;  I  don't  want  to  scrape  the 
bottom  off  her!" 

So  we  took  out  most  of  the  things ;  the  two 
"  Frenchies  "  seized  hold  of  the  painter,  while  the  rest 
of  us  took  hold  along  the  sides,  and  we  "snaked  " 
her  up  the  bank  and  across  the  grass  to  the  road, 
in  a  jiffy. 


O  UR  WEEK  A  FLO  A  T.  135 

We  stuck  to  it  that  she  must  be  lifted  the  rest  of 
the  way,  so  the  biggest  fellow  took  hold  at  the  bow 
and  walked  backwards,  two  at  each  side  staggered 
along  sideways,  and  two  had  hold  at  the  stern.  We 
had  to  put  her  down  once,  and  rest  a  moment ;  not 
that  she  was  so  very  heavy,  but  she  was  awkward 
to  pick  up  and  walk  with  ;  there  were  no  places 
convenient  to  take  hold  of.  We  said  we'd  rig  some 
handles  on  her  before  we  tried  much  more  of  this 
sort  of  work. 

The  dog  had  roused  up,  and  was  "giving 
tongue  "  with  all  his  might;  but  he'd  traveled  around 
the  tree  and  wound  himself  up  so  tight  he  could 
hardly  stretch  out  enough  to  bark ;  his  collar 
choked  him  so  that  every  moment  or  two  he  had 
to  stop  and  cough  before  he  could  go  on.  I've 
read  plenty  of  stories  about  smart  dogs,  but  I  never 
saw  or  heard  of  one  that  was  smart  enough  to  un- 
wand  his  chain  from  such  a  fix. 

The  young  ones  had  run  up  and  were  trotting 
around  us ;  there  were  nigh  a  dozen  now  ;  the 
woman  at  the  clothes-line  had  stopped  to  look ; 
there  were  several  heads  at  the  windows,  and  an 
old  chap  in  overalls,  with  a  pipe,  stood  in  one  of 
the  doors ;  some  people  were  looking  out  now 
from  the  factory,  and  one  yelled  something  at  us, 
we  couldn't  hear  what  ;  and  the  dog  kept  cheering 
us  on  !  But  the  goat  stuck  where  he  was,  and 
just  kept  his  head  pointed  our  way  ;  and  the  hens 
paid  no  attention  at  all. 


IjS  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

fa 

So,  after  her  long  passage  through  the  wilder- 
ness, the  Triton  was  at  last  lugged  across  amid  this 
uproar  and  parade,  and  launched  safely  in  the  pond. 

Joe  paid  the  quarter  like  a  man  ;  but  they  weren't 
equal  to  dividing  it  around  ;  so  he  took  it  back, 
and  found  a  dime  for  the  "  Frenchies,"  and  a  dime 
and  nickel  for  the  others. 

Then  the  country  chaps  had  to  fire  off  a  lot  of  ques- 
tions, which  seemed  likely  to  end  in  Joe's  telling  all 
about  how  we  camped  out,  and  what  we'd  been 
through.  Meanwhile  those  hens  had  put  a  thought 
in  my  head;  and  I  asked  one  of  the  "Frenchies"  if 
he'd  any  eggs  to  sell.  He  started  off  at  the  word; 
and  in  a  minute  he  was  back  with  twenty-one  in  a 
tin  pan;  but  I  didn't  want  to  take  more  than  a  doz- 
en, for  I  didn't  know  how  long  they'd  been  laid; — 
for  the  dozen  he  wanted  to  charge  us  twenty  cents. 

"  Bother!"  says  Joe,  "  leave  'em  alone;  we  can  get 
'em  for  half  that  at  the  next  farm-house!"  and  he 
began  to  cast  off  the  painter. 

Then  the  fellow  offered  the  lot  for  Joe's  quarter; 
and  we  agreed  to  it  if  he'd  throw  in  some  bait.  So 
Joe  handed  over,  and  we  bagged  the  eggs;  and 
they  gave  us  an  old  tin  box  half-full  of  earth-worms; 
and  then  I  hurried  Joe  off;  for  I  saw  three  or  four 
men  starting  from  the  factory,  and  the  old  chap 
with  the  pipe  had  put  on  his  hat,  and  was  half-way 
to  us — and  I  thought  there  was  no  reason  why  we 
should  stand  and  be  catechised  the  rest  of  the  after- 
noon. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  137 

We  had  barely  shoved  off,  before  the  crowd 
offered  us  their  fish  for  another  quarter  ;  but  we 
didn't  see  it.  "Ten  cents!"  they  yelled;  but  we 
had  finished  trading  for  that  time. 

"  That  set  don't  see  silver  every  day!"  remarked 
Joe. 

We'd  forgotten  to  ask  where  the  best  fishing  was, 
so  we  concluded  to  experiment  about  a  little.  It 
wasn't  a  very  wide  pond, — the  dam  and  the  factory 
pretty  nearly  measured  it,  that  way  ;  but  it  stretched 
up  northwestwardly  for  quite  a  distance,  and  then 
bent  around  to  the  north  ;  so  that  we  weren't  sure 
that  we  saw  the  end  of  it. 

I  took  the  oars  ;  and  it  was  a  comfort  to  row  once 
more  where  there  was  plenty  of  room,  and  I  could 
pull  around  any  way,  without  running  ashore  in 
three  strokes  ;  it  hadn't  been  so  since  we  left  Wylie's 
bridge,  the  morning  before. 

There  was  a  little  sail-boat  tied  up  to  the  bank, 
and  two  other  boats  were  in  sight  along  the  shore  ; 
but  no  one  seemed  to  be  out  fishing. 

"  Think  of  any  one's  keeping  a  sail-boat  on  this 
little  pond  !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Yes  ;  if  'twas  Lake  Superior,  'twould  be  dif- 
ferent." 

"  Rather,  I  should  say  !  How  queer  it  must  seem 
to  be  out  of  sight  of  land  on  fresh  water  ;  to  have  big 
waves  send  fresh-water  spray  over  you  !  and,  more 
than  all,  to  see  fresh-water  surf  pounding  on  the 


138        *  OUR  1VEEK  AFLOAT. 

beach  !  It  seems  as  if  I  could  hardly  believe  it,  even 
if  I  saw  it ;  I  can  imagine  volcanoes  and  cyclones, 
easier  !  " 

I  pulled  till  we  judged  we  were  a  little  past  the 
middle  of  the  pond  ;  and  then  we  hove  over  the 
grapnel ;  it  struck  at  about  fifteen  feet.  Then  we 
got  out  our  hand-lines,  baited  them  and  threw  them 
over,  salt-water  fashion.  We  thought  we  felt  a 
few  nibbles ;  but  they  were  precious  feeble  ones. 

'  "  Come  !  "  said  Joe,  "  this  is  no  use  ;  we  must  do 
as  the  Romans  do,  and  get  some  poles." 

There  were  some  birches  on  the  shore  right  op- 
posite ;  and  we  "upkeleg," —  I  mean,  we  pulled  up 
the  anchor, —  and  started  for  them.  It  didn't  take 
long  to  hack  down  and  trim  a  couple  of  poles, — 
they  weren't  beauties,  but  we  judged  the  bull- 
pouts  hadn't  style  enough  themselves,  to  mind. 

Then  we  had  to  put  on  floats,  or  "  dobbers";  we 
tossed  for  the  cork  of  the  jug,  and  Joe  got  it.  He 
said  fresh-water  fish  didn't  hang  round  the  bottom, 
but  swam  a  little  way  from  the  top  ;  so  he  tied  his 
dobber  on  about  four  feet  from  the  hooks ;  but  my 
idea  was  that  they'd  go  for  something  to  eat,  where- 
ever  they  saw  it,  if  there  wasn't  anything  to 
frighten  them  away  ;  and  the  farther  the  hook  was 
from  us,  the  less  they'd  see  to  be  scared  at. 

He  said  that  sounded  well  enough  ;  but  his  was 
the  way  they  always  did.  There'd  be  no  harm  in 
trying  both  ways,  I  thought ;  so  I   hunted  a  little 


OUR  WEEK  AELOAT.  jjp 

and  found  a  bit  of  soft  pine  on  the  shore,  which  I 
tied  on  about  ten  feet  from  the  hooks. 

We  o-ot  the  boat  anchored  aoain,  a  little  nearer 

to  to  T 

the  shore,  and  Joe  was  the  first  to  throw  over, — 
skip  !  it  went  to  the  bottom,  dragging  the  cork 
down  after  it. 

"  I  thought  your  fish  lived  in  the  upper  story  !" 
said  I. 

"Confound  it!  I  forgot  to  take  off  that  big 
lead  sinker ! " 

So  he  pulled  in  again,  and  got  it  off ;  but  he  said 
there  must  be  something  to  carry  the  hooks  down, 
so  he  rumaged  out  some  boat-nails  we  kept  in  the 
locker,  and  fastened  on  one  ;  and  I  rigged  one  on 
mine  the  same  way. 

Then  we  flung  our  lines  out  ;  it's  safe  to  believe 
there  wasn't  much  "science"  about  our  "  casting," 
but  we  managed  to  keep  clear  of  each  other.  Then 
the  proper  thing  was  to  watch  our  "  dobbers  ";  but 
it  wasn't  very  exciting  business.  I'd  thrown  over 
on  the  sunny  side,  to  be  out  of  Joe's  way  ;  but 
there  was  such  a  glare  on  the  water  that  I  drew  in 
and  made  another  cast  over  the  bow  ;  and  then  we 
settled  down  and  waited. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

It  was  comfortable  and  lazy ;  but  it  grew  dull 
pretty  soon  ;  and  Joe  said  he  was  going  to  throw 
out  some  "  ground-bait. "  So  he  took  about  half 
our  worms,  cut  them  into  bits  and  sprinkled  'em 
overboard  ;  they  sunk  slowly,  and  we  watched 
them  as  long  as  we  could  see ;  but  nothing  seemed 
to  come  for  them.  When  we  fished  down  at  Pier- 
haven,  if  we  threw  over  as  much  as  a  clam-shell,  we 
could  see  the  "chogsetts"  squabbling  over  it  and 
jerking  it  around  before  it  had  sunk  a  fathom. 

But  the  "  ground-bait  "  seemed  to  do  the  busi- 
ness, for  in  two  or  three  minutes  Joe  said  some- 
thing was  at  his  line.  His  float  was  wio-a-lingr  and 
dancing  a  little,  and  in  a  moment  it  went  almost 
under.  Then  he  gave  a  jerk,  and  out  came  the 
fish  which  swung  wriggling  into  the  boat.  It  was  a 
bull-pout. 

"  Now  see  here-!"  said  Joe,  "you  can't  grab  this 
fellow,  anyhow.  See  this  sharp  spine  in  front  of 
his  back  fin,  and  these  two  on  each  side,  sticking 
straight  out?" 

"  Yes  ;  the  first  ray  of  the  pectoral  fins." 

"Just  so  ;  well,  he'd  like  nothing  better  than  to 
get  those  horns  into  your  hand;  that's  why  they 
call  these  fish  horn-pouts,  sometimes.      Now  I  t^e 

I4« 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT  141 

hold  of  the  line  close  to  his  mouth,  so  he  can't  flop 
around,  and  then  take  him  with  the  other  hand, 
two  fingers  on  each  side,  right  behind  the  horns, 
and  then  I've  got  him  so  he  can't  do  any  harm." 

He  found  it  rather  troublesome  to  get  the  hook 
out,  after  all ;  for  the  greedy  little  rascal  had  swal- 
lowed it  more  than  half-way  through  him,  like  a 
"  toad-grunter."  Then  I  saw  my  float  joggle,  and 
pulled  up,  but  there  was  nothing.  It  stayed  still 
after  that,  while  Joe  brought  in  two  more ;  so  I  con- 
cluded the  fish  must  be  nearer  the  top  that  day, 
and  tied  my  float  lower  down.  Then  it  wasn't  long 
before  I  got  one  bigger  than  any  of  Joe's. 

"  Bull-pout,  horn-pout,  bull-head,  catfish,"  said  I. 
"  'Tisn't  every  little  homely  fish  can  sport  such  a 
string  of  names  !" 

"And  of  course  he's  got  a  Latin  name,  too,  as 
long  as  all  of  'em  together,— if  we  only  knew  what 
it  was  !  "  added  Joe. 

"  But  they're  not  all  so  little,  either.  There  are 
catfish  in  the  Mississippi  River  as  big  as  a  man,  and 
they  catch  them  with  such  tackle  as  we  use  for 
sharks." 

"  Yes,  I've  heard  fish  stories  before  !" 

"  No  ;  it's  so,  honest.  I've  seen  a  picture  of  men 
catching  such  a  one,  with  bie  oaff-hooks  to  land  him 
with." 

"Well,  they  must  be  diabolical-looking  beasts  I 
I'd  rather  have  a  shark  at  the  end  of  my  line!" 


142  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Then  I  hauled  in  another  —  not  a  shark,  but  a 
little  catfish  hardly  longer  than  my  finger  ;  a  sort 
of  fo'tten-fish,  but,  unlike  kittens,  he  was  just  as  ugly 
as  the  old  ones.  Just  after,  Joe  got  another.  This 
fresh-water  fishing  wasn't  so  bad  for  a  change. 

"Talking  about  names,"  remarked  Joe,  "most 
fish  seem  to  be  well  off  that  way.  There's  bream, 
and  pumpkin-seed  ;  and  the  salt-water  fishes,  too, — 
what  we  call  'scup,'  are  'porgies,'  down  in  Long 
Island  Sound." 

"I  know  it;  and  'tautog'  are  called  'blackfish,' 
down  there.  And  '  chogsetts,' — they're  'dinners,' 
Down  East — -but  Captain  Sayre  says  the  true  name's 
'blue  perch.'  " 

"Rock  perch,'  I've  heard  'em  called;  but  'bur- 
gall  '  is  the  old  original  name,  so  uncle  says." 

"Well!  there's  another  string  of  names  for  a  lit- 
tle six-inch  fish!  And  the  minnows,  that  we  call 
'nippers'  and  '  mummychogs,' Fred  Scovill's  cousin 
from  Poughkeepsie  called  'killie-fish,'  when  he 
was  on  here  last  summer,  because  the}'  lived  in 
the  creeks  or  kills; — that's  what  the  old  Dutch  set- 
tlers called  them —  Kaatskill,  Peekskill,  you  know." 

"Yes,"  said  Joe,  "and  there's  '  squiteague,'  that 
we  catch  in  the  bay  now  and  then,  and  think  we've 
got  something  uncommon  ;  they  haul  those  in  by 
the  boat-load,  below  New  York  Bay  ;  and  there 
they're  '  weak-fish.'  " 

"  'Weak-fish!'  I  have  heard  of  them  ;  but  I  didn't 
know  they  meant  '  squiteague! 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  143 

"  And  '  quahaugs '  they  call  '  hard  clams,'  " — but 
here  he  had  to  attend  to  another  bull-pout  who  had 
established  communication.  When  it  had  joined 
the  others  above  water,  he  went  on  : 

"You  see  we've  kept  up  the  old  Indian  names 
more  than  they  have  in  other  places;  perhaps  their 
ears  weren't  cultivated  up  to  the  beauties  of  the 
native  lingo." 

Then  I  pulled  in  another  fish,  a  perch  this  time, 
and  pretty  enough  to  make  up  for  the  unsightliness 
of  the  bull-pouts. 

Somebody  else  was  now  fishing  not  faraway.  He 
had  a  blue  coat,  and  white  waistcoat,  with  a  blue 
sash  across  it,  and  wore  a  big  blue  fuzzy  cap  ;  he 
was  sitting  on  the  limb  of  an  old  dead  tree  by  the 
shore,  and  didn't  have  any  pole. 

All  at  once  he  took  a  header  right  in,  with  his 
spruce  suit  all  on  !  but  he  was  out  in  a  second,  and 
had  a  fish —  in  his  mouth. 

'Twas  a  kingfisher  ;  and  he  gulped  his  catch  in  a 
moment,  and  set  himself  for  another.  We  saw  him 
dive  twice ;  and  he  got  one  each  time.  They 
weren't  very  big  ;  still,  I  don't  see  where  he  stowed 
'em  all.  Perhaps  then  he  thought  he  had  enough  ; 
for  all  of  a  sudden  he  streaked  off,  leaving  his  usual 
farewell  sone  sinsrina-  behind  him,  about  as  melo- 
dious  as  a  watchman's  rattle. 

They  weren't  biting  as  well  now  ;  but  I  caught 
another  perch,  while  Joe  had  nothing  but  bull-pout. 


144  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

At  last,  however,  he  hooked  a  little  fellow  different 
from  any  we  had  taken.  His  shape  was  midway 
between  the  bream  and  perch  ;  but  his  back  fin  was 
smaller,  and  his  tail  was  notched  so  deeply  as  almost 
to  divide  it  in  two.  He  was'nt  marked  like  them, 
but  was  a  light  bronze  all  over,  except  his  back, 
which  was  darker.     Joe  said  he  was  a  "  shiner." 

It  was  well  towards  five  o'clock  ;  and  we  wanted 
to  get  our  fish  cooked  before  dark  ;  so  we  counted 
up,  and  found  we  had  nine  bull-pouts,  two  perch,  and 
a  shiner  ;  besides  three  too  small  to  be  of  any 
account.  So  we  said  we'd  leave  after  one  more 
throw. 

That  time,  strange  to  say,  each  of  us  caught  a 
bream  !  their  crowd  must  have  just  heard  of  the 
free  lunch. 

There  was  a  little  wind  from  the  north,  and  we 
spread  the  sail.  When  last  used,  it  had  been  a 
tent. 

There  were  low  hills  around  the  pond,  with 
several  houses  in  sigfht,  besides  the  tenement-houses 
and  the  factory,  the  hum  of  which  was  borne  to  us 
over  the  water.  We  glided  quite  near  the  little 
sail-boat,  not  as  large  as  our  own  craft,  and  painted 
bright  red,  with  a  white  stripe  ;  "Ella"  showed  in 
white  on  the  stern.  She  was  moored  with  her  bow 
almost  touching  the  shore. 

"  There's  no  tide  to  go  out  and  leave  her  stranded," 
I  said. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT  145 

There  were  thick  woods  around  the  upper  part 
of  the  pond,  chiefly  on  the  north  side  ;  and  among 
them  we  soon  made  out  the  place  where  the  stream 
flowed  in.  We  were  now  to  enter  unknown  regions, 
indeed  ;  we  had  heard  of  "  Shad  Factory,"  but  of 
nothing  farther  up. 

The  pond  tapered  gradually,  and  at  last  the  woods 
closed  in  on  either  side ;  we  took  the  sail  down, — 
and  in  two  minutes  more  the  pond  was  out  of  sight, 
and  I  was  pulling  around  a  long  bend  to  the  east, 
with  Joe  sitting  at  the  steering-oar. 

"Seems  natural,  doesn't  it?"  said  he. 

"Yes,  it  does.  I  wouldn't  have  minded  if  the 
pond  had  held  out  for  a  mile  or  two  longer." 

Still,  it  wasn't  bad  at  all  here ;  especially  when 
compared  with  what  we  had  last  tackled  in  up-stream 
navigation.  There  was  plenty  of  room  for  the  oars, 
the  current  was  gentle ;  and  the  trees  were  fair-sized, 
and  didn't  seem  to  want  to  get  into  the  water. 

In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  we  passed  the  woods, 
and  wound  around  through  some  rather  swampy 
pasture-land,  with  plenty  of  cattle-tracks  stamped 
around  in  the  soft  places,  but  no  beast  in  sight. 
Then  the  land  grew  higher,  and  we  swept  into  a 
bright  green  meadow,  whose  turf  was  cropped  short 
by  sheep,  a  few  of  which  could  be  seen  some  dis- 
tance ahead,  where  the  ground  sloped  up  to  a 
long,  low  ledge  of  rocks. 

We  both  thought  this  might  be  a  good  place  to 
camp. 

10 


146  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"We'll  build  a  fire-place  to  cook  our  fish,  some- 
where up  among  those  rocks,"  said  Joe. 

We  rounded  a  big  bend,  where  the  water  notched 
in  and  made  a  cove,  covered  with  tall  flags,  over 
which  the  dragon-flies  were  poising  and  skimming, 
and  brought  up  at  a  level  green  bank,  opposite  the 
nearer  end  of  the  ledge. 

The  kettle  was  needed  to  carry  up  the  fish ;  so 
we  emptied  what  huckleberries  were  left  upon  some 
leaves  which  we  plucked  from  an  oak  close  by,  and 
laid  upon  the  grass  under  it.  Then  we  loaded 
them  into  the  kettle,  and  made  our  way  up  to  the 
ledge.  . 

In  a  sort  of  corner  of  the  rock,  where  it  rose 
straight  from  the  ground,  we  laid  a  large  flat  stone, 
and  piled  other  stones  on  each  other  at  each  side;  so 
that  at  last  we  had  a  fire-place,  and  a  bit  of  chimney 
above.  There  wasn't  much  wood  around,  but  we 
went  off  some  distance  to  where  the  trees  were 
thicker,  and  in  five  minutes  we'd  piled  together  as 
many  dead  branches  as  we  could  drag. 

When  we  got  back,  Joe  started  the  fire,  while  I 
went  down  to  the  boat  for  the  hatchet ;  then  I  set 
to  work  to  break  up  our  wood.  Joe  carried  the  fish 
to  a  flat  place  on  the  rock,  and  began  to  get  them 
in  shape  for  cooking. 

He  made  a  good  deal  of  fuss  about  it,  and  said 
they  were  the  worst  things  he  had  ever  tackled; — 
slimy  as  eels,  some  of  the  spines  sticking  straight 
out,  others  stiffened  half-way  up.     Finally  he  went 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  147 

to  the  boat,  and  got  a  stout  two-tined  fork  he  had 
there,  and  jabbed  it  into  their  heads  to  hold  on  by; 
then  he  got  along  easier. 

Meanwhile  I  cut  up  all  the  wood,  and  went  and 
got  another  lot ;  for  the  fire  used  it  up  fast.  Joe 
got  the  fish  all  skinned  ;  and  we  wished  we  could 
cook  'em  in  as  short  a  time,  for  we  were  pretty 
hungry  ;  but  we  knew  it  wouldn't  be  hot  enough 
for  half  an  hour  ; — and  an  hour  would  likely  be  bet- 
ter, if  we  could  wait  so  long. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

We  heaped  some  wood  on  the  fire,  and  we  went 
to  get  our  tents  ready  ;  that  would  take  up  part  of 
the  time.  When  I  opened  my  bag,  to  get  out  the 
mosquito-netting  and  pins,  there  were  the  eggs ;  we 
had  forgotten  all  about  them. 

"  Let's  cook  'em  all !  "  proposed  Joe ;  "what  we 
can't  eat  to-night  we'll  carry  ;  they'll  carry  safer 
cooked." 

So  I  washed  out  the  kettle  and  dipped  it  full  of 
of  water  ;  then  we  carried  it  and  the  bags  to  the 
fire.  Next,  we  must  rig  a  crane  to  hang  the  kettle 
on  ;  but  the  fire  was  so  lively  it  was  altogether  too 
hot  for  comfort  close  by  it.  It  went  down  soon, 
though,  while  we  were  choosing  our  sticks  and 
trimming  them  into  proper  shape, 

Of  course,  on  each  side  of  the  fire  we  planted  a 
stick  with  a  fork  at  the  top,  and  rested  another 
stout  one  across  the  forks.  We  slung  the  kettle 
with  some  copper  wire  we  happened  to  have  aboard, 
and  waited  for  it  to  boil. 

Joe  had  brought  a  frying-pan,  but  there  was 
nothing  to  grease  it  with  ;  for,  strange  to  say, 
neither  of  us  had  thought  to  bring  any  butter. 
Joe  said  he  had  it  in  mind,  at  the  time  he  put 
in  the  pan,  but  he  would  have  to  go  to  the  keg  in 

148 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  i4p 

the  cellar  for  it,  so   he  didn't  just  then  ;  and  that 
was  the  end  of  it,  as  far  as  he  was  concerned, 

So  our  idea  was  to  cover  the  stones  with  leaves, 
and  bake  the  fish  ;  but  we  weren't  sure  how  it 
would  work. ,  If  we  had  been  at  the  shore  at  low 
tide,  we  would  have  piled  rock-weed  on  the  stones 
and  put  in  the  fish  and  they'd  have  cooked  splen- 
didly. But  now,  we  must  make  the  best  of  what 
we  had. 

"  Let's  boil  some  of  the  fish,  as  well  as  the  eggs," 
I  suggested.     "  What  doesn't  turn  out  well  one  way, 
may  the  other." 
' "  All  right !  we'll  have  a  chowder  and  a  bake  ! " 

When  the  water  boiled,  the  eggs  were  dropped 
in,  one  by  one.  Three  turned  end  up,  and  we  said 
those  weren't  fresh-laid.     Joe  got  out  his  watch. 

"  I'll  give  'em  ten  minutes;  eggs  need  to  be  solid 
when  they're  going  on  exploring  expeditions  ! " 

When  they  were  done,  we  had  a  tough  time  get- 
ting them  out.  The  kettle  was  nearly  full  of  bub- 
bling water,  and  we  could  do  nothing  with  our  tea- 
spoons. I  got  the  tips  of  my  fingers  in,  and  then 
I  gave  up,  while  the  spoon  sank  down  among  the 
eggs. 

Then  each  of  us  took  a  couple  of  sticks  a  foot 
long,  and  exercised  our  skill  in  trying  to  pinch  the 
eggs  between  them,  and  lift  them  out.  We  got 
two  out,  and  let  them  slap  on  to  the  stones.    Of 


ijo  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT 

course  we  might  have  taken  the  kettle  off,  and 
poured  out  the  whole  business  on  the  grass,  but  we 
didn't  like  to  do  that,  for  then  we  must  wait  for 
another  lot  of  water  to  heat,  and  we  wanted  to 
start  the  fish  alono-  ri^ht  off. 

We  did  compromise,  though,  by  setting  the  ket- 
tle on  the  ground  where  we  could  get  at  it  easier, 
and  not  be  cooking  ourselves  at  the  fire  ;  then  we 
soon  poked  the  eggs  up  over  the  edge,  and  let  them 
drop  safely  on  the  grass,  after  a  quarter  of  an  hour's 
lively  boiling. 

"  We  ought  to  dye  'em,  and  save  'em  till  next 
Easter!"  declared  Joe.  "They'll  stand  anything, 
now  ! 

The  kettle  was  re-hung,  and  half  the  fish  put  in, 
with  some  hard-tack  and  a  little  salt.  "  When  they 
begin  to  drop  apart,  I  guess  they'll  be  done." 

We  put  on  some  wood,  and  went  to  gather 
leaves, — oak-leaves,  as  being  tough  and  less  likely 
to  crumble  and  stick  to  the  fish.  More  pulpy  leaves 
would  have  made  more  steam,  which  is  what  really 
does  the  cooking  in  a  well-regulated  sea-side  bake, 
but  we  had  doubts  about  the  flavor  of  steam  from 
leaves ;  we  knew  it  couldn't  be  the  same  as  from 
the  crisp,  salt  rock-weed. 

I  suggested  bayberry  leaves ;  and  this  reminded 
us  to  fill  our  pillows,  which  we  had  emptied  in  the 
morning.     We  had  to  walk  a  good  way  before  find- 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  131 

ing  any  bayberry  bushes  ;  at  last  we  came  on  a 
large  clump,  and  I  plucked  an  armful  of  twigs  to  add 
to  the  oak-leaves. 

The  fire  was  getting  low,  but  the  water  was  still 
boiling ;  the  sun  was  getting  low,  too  ;  and  we  made 
up  our  minds  to  wait  no  longer.  The  brands  were 
cleared  out,  and  the  flat  stone  was  dusted  off  with 
twigs,  and  covered  with  a  double  layer  of  oak-leaves ; 
then  the  fish  were  laid  on  and  strewn  with  sprigs  of 
bayberry,  over  which  we  heaped  the  rest  of  the 
oak-leaves. 

Joe  took  his  fork  and  poked  at  the  fish  in  the 
kettle,  and  concluded  they  were  done  ;  but  the  water 
was  still  boiling,  and  we  left  them  in  a  while  longer, 
to  make  sure. 

"  I'm  afraid  they'll  get  charred  on  the  under  side, 
before  they're  cooked  on  top  ! "  said  I. 

"We'll  turn  them,  then." 

So  after  ten  minutes  we  raked  away  the  leaves 
enough  so  we  could  poke  them  over,  then  covered 
them  again.  It  smelled  good  and  like  supper;  and 
Joe  took  off  the  kettle  and  poured  out  most  of  the 
water,  and  we  spooned  the  fish  out  into  our  tin 
plates  ;  the  meat  split  and  crumbled  off  considera- 
bly, so  we  judged  it  was  done. 

When  it  cooled  a  little  we  tried  it ;  and  it  was 
pretty  good,  only  fresh  ;  but  we  had  plenty  of  salt 
to  sprinkle  over.     We  ate  some  of  the  eggs,  too  ; 


i$2      v  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

and  the  three  light  ones,  which  we'd  set  off  apart 
we  cracked,  and  found  they  were  too  far  gone  ;  so 
we  let  'em  drive  against  one  of  the  trees. 

We  finished  up  the  huckleberries,  too  ;  and  the 
hard-tack  that  was  in  with  the  fish  ;  and  altogether 
we  made  out  a  first-rate  supper  without  touching 
the  fish  we  were  baking  on  the  stone.  We  had  to 
drink  the  river-water,  for  Joe  had  kicked  over  the 
jug,  without  noticing,  while  he  was  fishing  ;  and  as 
the  cork  was  on  his  line,  of  course  our  spring-water 
all  ran  out. 

Finally  we  took  our  fish  out  of  the  "bake,"  and 
laid  them  on  a  clean  stone  ;  they  weren't  done  very 
evenly  !  some  parts  were  about  black  and  others 
rather  tough, —  still,  some  was  fairly  good,  only 
smoky-tasting  ; — any  way,  we  gathered  them  all  be- 
tween two  tin  plates,  to  save  for  breakfast. 

It  was  getting  pretty  dusky  now,  and  we  started 
to  carry  the  things  down  to  the  boat.  About  half- 
way, Joe  stopped  short,  and  said,  "Hold  on  !  now 
face  'round,  and  look  up  hill !  " 

So  I  'bout-faced  ;  but  didn't  see  anything  out  of 
the  way. 

"  Now  look  over  this  way  ! "  — pointing  sou'west. 
So  I  looked, —  and  there  was  the  new  moon  ! 

"  I  saw  it  over  my  left  shoulder,"  said  he,  "  now 
you've  seen  it  over  your  right ;  so  maybe  we'll  keep 
a  fair  average  share  of  luck  for  the  expedition  !" 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  153 

"Now,  Joe,"  said  I,  "how  much  stock  do  you 
take  in  that  bosh  ?" 

"Well!  I  don't  know  as  any,  really;  only  it's  a 
kind  of  a  habit.  It  doesn't  make  me  'specially  des- 
perate, if  I  happen  to  see  it  the  wrong  way, —  but 
I'd  a  little  rather  see  it  over  the  right." 

We  put  things  in  the  boat,  and  turned  back  up 
the  hill  again,  for  we  weren't  sleepy  yet. 

"Come,  Joe  !"  said  I,  "what's  the  use  of  paying 
any  attention  to  that  stuff  ?  this  is  an  enlightened 
age.  If  I'd  known  what  you  were  about,  I'd  have 
turned  the  left  shoulder  on  purpose.  The  lower 
down  you  go  among  savages,  the  more  signs  you 
run  across  !" 

"  Well,  we're  going  back  to  savage  life  a  little, 
just  now  ! " 

"  No  we're  not ;  explorers  are  right  in  the  front 
of  progress.  Suppose  Stanley  carried  any  such 
moonshine  foolishness  into  Africa?" 

"  Well,  I  know  of  course  it  does'nt  make  any 
difference  really ;  I've  taken  notice.  Now,  there's 
another  sign  you  can  see  this  minute — 'the  old 
moon  in  the  new  moon's  arms.'  I  was  told  that 
meant  bad  weather  comine,  so  long;  asfo  I  don't 
remember  when.  I  never  took  the  trouble  to 
notice  whether  it  was  true." 

"  Well,  there  ?s  a  grain  of  sense  in  that.  I  sup- 
pose you  know  what  makes  it." 

"  Yes ;  the  dark  part  of  the  moon's  lighted  from 


i54  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

the  earth  ;  it's  in  moonlight,  you  may  say,  and  the 
crescent  is  the  sunlighted  part." 

"  Well  if  the  air  is  hazy,  so  as  to  make  a  bright 
glow  in  the  sky  after  sunset,  as  there  was  last  night, 
you're  not  so  likely  to  see  the  'old  moon,'  because 
the  glow  fades  it  out  ;  though  you  can  still  see  the 
moon,  plainly  enough.  But  when  it's  clear  as  a 
bell,  like  this,  your  sign  shows ;  and  such  clear 
weather  is  'most  always  followed  by  a  storm  in  a 
day  or  two." 

"  I  hope  that  sign  won't  come  true  this  time, 
though,'' 

"  So  do  I.  There's  another  true  moon-sign, —  a 
ring  around  the  moon  means  wet  weather  coming." 

"  Yes  ;  and  they  say  the  number  of  stars  you  can 
see  inside  the  ring  shows  how  many  days  it  will  be 
before  the  storm  comes." 

-'  Well,  now,  that  part  of  it  is  sheer  nonsense  ; 
you  can  see  that  yourself.  The  moon  has  a  motion 
of  its  own,  and  the  same  stars  won't  be  near  it  all 
night.  Besides,  if  you  had  a  good  telescope,  you 
could  see,  may  be,  fifty  or  a  hundred  stars  inside." 

"  That's  so,"  admitted  Joe. 

The  evening  star  was  shining  brightly  ;  not  very 
near  the  moon,  but  it  reminded  me  of  another  sign, 
more  ridiculous  still,  if  anything, 

Some  sailors  believe  that  if  a  big"  star  is  doeeinof 
the  moon,  as  they  call  it,  a  storm  is  sure  to  follow. 
Sam   Bowers   was   talking   about  the  big  gale  in 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  155 

March,  last  year  ;  and  he  said  he'd  been  expecting 
it,  for  he'd  seen  one  star  ahead  of  the  moon,  towing 
her,  and  another  astern,  chasing  her.  "  I  know'd 
'twas  coming,  safe  enough  ! "  he  said. 

Joe  laughed  at  that;  and  wondered  what  he'd 
have  said  if  he'd  noticed  it  just  after  the  gale,  in- 
stead of  before. 

"  He'd  have  laid  any  storm  to  it  that  happened 
within  a  month  after  !  " 

"  I've  seen  the  moon  in  the  daytime." 

"  So  have  I,  lots  of  times;  it  looks  like  a  little 
bit  of  cloud.  I've  seen  it  close  to  a  big  white  cloud  ; 
and  the  cloud  was  the  brightest.  I've  sometimes 
wished  that  one  of  those  great  piled-up  clouds,  forty 
times  as  big  as  the  full  moon,  such  as  you  see  hot 
afternoons,  could  flash  out  in  the  sky  of  a  sudden, 
some  dark  night,  all  lighted  up  as  it  was  in  the  day 
time,  —  wouldn't  it  be  glorious  !" 

"Yes  ;  and  everybody'd  think  the  world  was  com- 
ing to  an  end!" 

We  sat  on  the  ledge  and  talked  a  little  longer, 
till  the  evening  star  dipped  out  of  sight,  and  the 
moon  began  to  set  in  its  turn.  Then  we  found  it 
a  trifle  chilly ;  and  as  there  was  a  little  wood  left, 
we  heaped  it  into  our  fire-place,  and  warmed  up. 

"We've  got  a  camp-fire,  this  time  !"  said  Joe. 

Then  we  talked  about  a  name  for  the  camp.  Joe 
said  we  might  call  it  "  Camp  Harlow,"  after  the 
pond  ;  but  the  pond  wasn't  in  sight  from  where  we 


j56  O  UR  WEEK  'AELOA  T. 

were.  I  proposed,  in  fun,  "  Camp  Lunatics,"  because 
we'd  been  discussing  crazy  notions  about  the  moon  ; 
but  Joe  thought  that  sounded  too  much  like  twitting 
on  ourselves  ;  he  said  "  Camp  Luna"  'd  be  just  the 
thing,  though  ;  for  here  we'd  seen  the  moon  start- 
ing out  on  her  month's  voyage. 

So  we  made  it  "  Camp  Luna,"  and  turned  in  ;  Joe 
had  the  boat,  this  time.  Twas  comfortable  under 
the  blanket ;  and  I  went  to  sleep  right  away. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Some  time  in  the  night  I  woke  up — -not  really 
cold,  but  the  blanket  seemed  rather  thin,  and  I 
couldn't  seem  to  get  asleep  again.  I  wished  I  had 
Joe's  "turnip,"  to  see  what  time  it  was;  I  twisted 
over  two  or  three  times,  trying  to  get  as  much 
blanket  around  me  as  I  could — then  sat  up  and 
wriggled  into  my  clothes. 

I  lifted  a  corner  of  the  netting  and  peeped  out  ; 
a  good  part  of  the  sky  was  covered  with  clouds, 
and  a  few  stars  shone  through  the  rifts,  here  and 
there.  I  could  see  the  bowl  of  the  "dipper,"  which 
lay  toward  the  east,  tipped  part  way  up,  so  it  would 
spill  about  half,  so  I  judged  it  must  be  near  morn- 
ing; for  it  was  standing  straight  up  on  the  west  side 
of  its  circle,  the  evening  before. 

I  lay  down  again,  but  couldn't  feel  sleepy.  It 
seemed  a  week  since  we  had  left  home  ;  I  wondered 
what  would  happen  to  us  that  day,  and  whether  we 
would  reach  the  "  head  of  navigation." 

The  tree-tops  opposite  began  to  look  blacker 
against  the  sky  ;  presently  I  heard  the  roosters 
echoing  each  other  from  all  around,  and  our  third 
day  of  exploration  was  dawning  on  us.  The  river 
in  front  began  to  show  up,  a  silver-gray  streak  — 
but  the  trees  and  grass  were  all  one.     Then  there 

157 


i58 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


were  some  dim  whitish  spots  ;  those  were  rocks ; 
the  tree-trunks  near  the  river  came  out  black,  and 
the  trees  near  by  began  to  show  darker  than  those 
a  good  way  off. 

It  was  rosy,  now,  over  in  the  east ;  and  the  birds 
were  in  grand  chorus.  Now  I  could  tell  where  the 
trees  left  off,  and  the  grass  began. 

I  saw  Joe's  tent  shake,  and  presently  he  made  his 
appearance  at  the  stern  of  the  Triton.     He  didn't 

see  fit  to  plunge  over- 
board this  morning,  but 
hurried  into  his  clothes, 
took  the  plates,  with  the 
fish,  and  the  hatchet,  and 
went  up  to  the  ledge, 
where  he  proceeded  to 
start  a  fire.  He  glanced 
my  way  as  he  passed; 
but  I  was  all  quiet  under 
the  blanket. 

I  crept  out  softly,  and 
managed  to  dodge 
around  to  the  other  side 
r;^-^  of  the  rocks,  without  his 
*  noticing  me.  When  I 
was  opposite  to  him,  and 
only  a  few  feet  off,  I  raised  a  tremendous  yell  and 
scrambled  to  the  top  of  the  ledge. 

Joe   was    looking   wild,   and    had   the    hatchet 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  ijp 

raised  ;  but  he  lowered  it  when  he  saw  me  and 
exclaimed,  "Great  Caesar!  I  didn't  know  there  was 
room  in  you  for  such  a  screech!  It  lifted  me  'most 
out  of  my  shoes!" 

I  told  him  I  thought  I'd  let  him  see  how  it 
seemed  to  be  surprised  by  the  natives,  as  some- 
times happened  to  explorers  ;  and  he  said  I  came 
pretty  near  finding  how  it  seemed  to  be  toma- 
hawked, and  that  happened  to  them  sometimes, 
too. 

"Seems  to  me  you  dressed  pretty  quick!"  he 
added  ;  "  you  were  all  tucked  in,  just  now." 

"So  I  was  ;  but  all  the  same  I'd  had  my  clothes 
on  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  to  keep  warm." 

"  Oh,  that's  it  !  Why  didn't  you  make  up  the 
fire,  then  ?  Come  along  now  and  get  some  more 
wood  ;  that'll  warm  you  up  ! " 

We  brought  the  wood,  and  we  were  soon 
warmed  up,  including  the  fish.  WTe  thought  we'd 
try  to  catch  a  few  more  before  starting  up-stream 
again  ;  we  could  row  down  to  the  pond  in  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes. 

After  breakfasting  on  whatever  of  the  fish  was 
eatable  —  which  included,  I  dare  say,  a  good  many 
morsels  we  wouldn't  have  thought  of  touching  at  the 
home  table, —  and  helping  out  with  some  eggs  and 
hard  tack,  we  struck  camp,  spreading  our  blankets 
on  the  ledee  where  the  sun  had  a   good  chance  at 


160     *  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

them.  Then  we  pulled  down  to  the  pond,  and 
cast  anchor  a  little  way  north  of  where  we  fished 
before. 

They  took  more  readily  to  the  bait,  this  time  ; 
and  we  began  hauling  in  bullpout  right  away.  In  a 
little  while  Joe's  float  was  suddenly  jerked  clear 
under ;  he  twitched  up,  and  swung  out  a  fish 
about  a  foot  long,  but  slender,  and  sharp-nosed  ;  he 
was  very  lively  and  savage,  and  his  mouth  was  cut 
away  back,  like  an  alligator's.  This  was  a  pickerel ; 
and  the  biggest  fish  we  had  caught  so  far. 

Joe  was  in  high  feather,  now;  —  ''high hook,"  he 
said  he  was,  and  we  were  both  alert  for  another ; 
but  no  more  came,  and  the  biting  slackened  off ; 
though  we  got  a  few  more  of  the  ordinary  kinds. 

''We'll  keep  on  till  7:30,"  said  Joe  ;  and  he  pulled 
out  his  infallible  Waterbury. 

"Twenty  minutes  of  nine,  already !  it  can't  be, 
and  sun  no  higher  than  this  !" 

"  Of  course  it  can't !  you'll  have  to  put  the  brakes 
on  that  old  machine  ! " 

"It  isn't  going!"  he  now  said,  with  some  con- 
sternation. 

"Well,  I'm  sure  that's  nothing  to  wonder  at. 
You  expect  altogether  too  much,  I  tell  you  !  I  sup- 
pose she's  warranted  to  go  when  she's  carried  ! 
Shake  her  up  ! " 

"Shut    your    head!    'tisn't  that;    it's    all  nght 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


161 


enough,  only  I  forgot  to  wind  it  up,  last  night ! 
Never  mind  ;  I'll  set  it  at  seven  by  guess,  and  we'll 
get  the  time  at  the  first  house  we  come  across." 

"  I'll  show  you  something  better  than  that,"  said 
I;  "here's  something  that  doesn't  need  winding  up!" 

I  opened  my  bag,  and  took  out  a  flat  box,  about 
as  large  as  the  palm  of  my  hand,  which  I  opened  ; 
and  there  was  an  oval  dial-plate  with  the  hours  of 
the  day  marked  around,  from  four  in  the  morning 
to  eight  in  the  evening,  and  with  half  and  a  quar- 
ter-hour divisions ;  one-third 
of  these  last  would  of  course 
be  five  minutes.  Inside  of  this 
was  hinged  a  little  metal  trian- 
gle, which  I  lifted  so  it  stood 
up  straight  from  the  dial.  At 
one  side,  a  little  compass  was 
set  in  the  box. 

"Trim  b.oat,  Joe!"  and  we 
moved  so  as  to  bringr  her  level 
on  the  water ;  then  I  set  my 
box  on  the  thwart,  and  shifted 
it  about  till  the  compass  needle  lay  exactly  over  the 
printed  north-and-south  line,  and  noted  where  the 
edge  of  the  shadow  cast  by  the  triangle  cut  across 
the  figures. 

"Twenty-five  minutes  past  six!"  I  announced. 

"  That's  very  nice  ;  have  you  any  idea  how  near 
right  it  is?" 
11 


162  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"  I've  tried  it  lots  of  times  by  the  town  clock ; 
and  it's  never  more  than  ten  minutes  out  of  the 
way." 

"  Where'd  you  be  if  the  sun  was  clouded  over?" 

"  I  never  had  any  reason  to  try  it  then  !  " 

At  the  time  I  woke  that  morning  it  wouldn't  have 
told  me  anything  ;  but  now  it  came  in  just  right ; 
and  Joe  condescended  to  regulate  his  paragon  of  a 
chronometer  by  it. 

By  half-past  seven  we  had  caught  only  three 
more  ;  but  we  stowed  our  tackle  and  moved  off. 
There  was  no  promise  of  rainy  weather  as  yet,  not- 
withstanding the  moon  ;  the  sun  glared  fiercely 
from  both  sky  and  water,  and  we  were  glad  to  get 
in  the  shade  of  the  woods  again. 

Soon  Camp  Luna  came  in  sight,  with  a  little 
smoke  still  rising  from  our  fire  up  at  the  ledge  ;  the 
expedition  stopped  a  minute  to  get  its  blankets, 
and  then  moved  onward  into  the  unknown. 

Our  river  now  changed  its  character,  and  became 
freaky  ;  we  couldn't  depend  on  it  for  three  minutes 
together.  First  we  would  come  on  a  round,  still 
pool,  with  the  brown  water  black  in  the  middle, 
and  like  as  not  twice  over  your  head  ;  then  would 
come  a  shallow,  gravelly  stretch,  with  the  current 
rushing"  so  that  it  was  hard  work  to  rush  the  boat 
along,  and  we  both  had  to  put  in  and  shove.  It 
crooked  oftener,  along  here  ;  and  there  was  no 
knowing  what  the  next  bend  might  open  to  us. 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  163 

One  of  these  pools  was  a  beauty  ;  bigger  than 
the  others,  with  a  steep  rock  on  one  side  rising 
higher  than  the  water,  crowned  with  tall  trees,  and 
draped  in  front  with  creepers  trailing  down  to  the 
stream  which  was  black  as  ink  in  the  shadow  ;  but 
opposite  the  rock  it  shoaled  up  bright  brown,  over 
a  shelving  sandy  bottom  that  sloped  up  to  a  little 
white  sand  beach,  between  the  water  and  the  grass. 

This  was  a  prime  place  for  a  swim,  and  we  were 
all  ready  for  it ;  for  the  day  was  turning  out  to  be 
pretty  hot,  and  we  had  been  taking  considerable 
exercise  shoving  over  the  shallows. 

We  had  a  grand  time  splashing  around  ;  and  we 
sounded  and  found  it  was  as  much  as  eight  feet 
under  the  rock,  with  a  sandy  bottom  ;  so  Joe  went 
'round  to  the  top  of  the  rock  —  it  wasn't  quite  twice 
his  height  from  the  water  —  and  took  a  "header." 

He  brought  up  some  of  the  bottom  —  bright, 
white  sand,  same  as  the  shore.  He  said  he  saw  one 
of  my  scorpions  down  there,  half  as  long  as  my 
arm  ;  of  course  I  knew  he  was  "  fooling,"  but  I  had 
forgotten  all  about  that  crawfish,  and  it  made  me 
feel  rather  "crawly."  So  pretty  soon  I  came  out; 
and  Joe  followed. 

.  We  didn't  put  on  our  shoes  and  stockings,  for 
we  said  the  next  shallow  we  came  to,  we'd  get  out 
and  tow  her  ;  and  that  was  a  good  idea,  for  the 
next  was  a  long  one,  and  wide  too  ;  and  the  chan- 
nel was  sometimes  on  one  side,  sometimes  the  other. 


164  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

i. 

We  got  out  and  laid  hold  of  the  painter,  and 
waded  along ;  it  wasn't  half  the  work  it.  was  to 
shove  her,  only  we  wern't  used  to  going  barefoot, 
and  the  gravel  was  coarse  and  felt  pretty  knubbly, 
and  slippery,  too.  At  last  Joe  got  in  and  put  on 
his  shoes,  while  I  took  care  of  the  boat ;  he  said 
they  were  old,  anyway,  and  he  might  as  well  stamp 
them  out  this  trip.  Then  I  did  the  same  ;  «but  she 
stuck  fast  on  a  shoal,  and  he  had  to  wait  till  I  got 
out ;  then  she  came  along  all  right. 

After  this  shoal,  we  had  a  stretch  where  we  could 
row  again.  Here  the  woods  thinned  away,  and  we 
came  to  meadows ;  the  stream  notched  in  at  the 
right,  and  made  a  cove  which  was  covered  with 
lily-pads  all  over,  leaving  just  space  enough  at  one 
side  for  the  boat  to  slide  by  ;  and  we  counted  sev- 
enteen lilies,  all  out.  We  plucked  them,  till  we 
couldn't  crowd  any  more  stems  down  into  the  jug, 
and  then  set  it  on  the  bow  ;  it  was  the  first;  time 
the  old  Triton  had  sported  a  nosegay,  and  the  fra- 
grance came  whiffing  back  to  us  as  we  rode  along. 

The  rest  of  the  way  through  the  fields  was  nar- 
row, with  a  swift  current;  so  Joe  took  the  painter 
and  walked  along  the  bank,  while  I  took  the  steer- 
ing oar,  and  kept  her  off-shore. 

After  we  had  progressed  a  few  minutes  in  this 
canal-boat  fashion,  the  stream  turned  to  the  right, 
and  widened  out  into  another  little  pond  ;  and  across 
the  farther  end  ran  a  road,  with  a  wall  built  up,  and 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 


165 


an  archway  in  it  for  the  passage  of  the  water.  On 
the  nearer  side  of  the  road  was  a  shed,  and  on  the 
farther  side,  a  little  one-story  house,  with  a  steep 
roof. 


If  the  arch  had  been  much  narrower,  we  would 
have  had  a  "  hard  one  "  to  get  by  ;  —  but  we  crowded 
through  ;  and  then  Joe  went  up  to  the  house  to  see 
how  near  right  his  watch  was.  When  he  came  back 
he  had  a  pound  of  butter,  and  a  big  loaf  of  brown- 
bread  he'd  bought.  He  said  his  watch  was  thirteen 
minutes  fast. 

"  Their  clock's  thirteen  minutes  slow,  you  mean  !" 
He  said  he'd  split  the  difference,  and  set  it  back 
six  and  a  half  minutes.     That  made  it  twenty-eight 
minutes  to  ten. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

We  hadn't  gone  much  farther,  when  we  heard 
that  rushing  noise  that  means  a  mill,  or  a  fall,  or 
both.  We  kept  a  good  look  out,  and  soon  saw  a 
tall  brick  chimney  above  the  trees  on  the  right ;  and 
when  we  had  rounded  the  low  point  in  front,  with 
its  thick  clump  of  oaks,  we  beheld  a  confused  pile 
of  buildings,  some  wood,  some  brick ;  some  one 
story,  some  two.  From  the  open  doors  and  win- 
dows came  the  rattle  of  machinery. 

"Another  dam  to  get  over!"  said  I;  but  we 
couldn't  see  it  yet,  though,  as  we  paddled  along, 
we  soon  came  to  where  the  foamy  water  came 
spinning  in  at  the  left,  from  the  sluice-way.  We 
went  on  along  the  waste-water  channel,  which  was 
deep  and  still, — scarcely  any  current  ;  that  showed 
there  couldn't  be  much  water  comina-  over  the  dam. 
The  stream  filled  back  in  here,  from  where  it  came 
in  at  the  sluice-way. 

A  broad  white  belt  was  painted  around  the  chim- 
ney, and  on  it,  in  black  lettering,  we  read : 
"PEOUONSET  PAPER  MILL." 

"  A  paper  mill ! "  I  exclaimed  ;  "  I  never  saw 
one!" 

"  Nor  I.     What  d'you  say  to  going  over  to  it  ?" 

-If  they'll  let  you!" 

166 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  167 

"  Well,  they  can't  be  much  troubled  with  visitors 
in  this  out-of-the-way  place,  and  I  guess  they  won't 
mind." 

So  we  moored  the  boat  nearly  opposite  the 
door,  and  ventured  in.  We  were  at  one  end  of  a 
long,  low  room  ;  close  by  was  the  end  of  a  long, 
narrow  machine,  which  extended  away  to  the  other 
end  of  the  place  ;  it  seemed  to  be  made  up  of  roll- 
ers, above  and  below,  some  large,  some  small  ;  but 
all  the  same  length,  reaching  across  the  machine. 

These  rollers  were  all  moving  slowly ;  and 
around,  between,  and  among  them  everywhere,  was 
a  broad  band  of  smooth  dark-blue  paper.  It  was 
nearly  as  wide  as  the  length  of  the  rollers,  and 
must  have  been  well  toward  half  a  mile  long  ;  for 
all  through  that  machine  you  could  see  it  gliding 
this  way  and  that,  slanting  down  backward  and 
slanting  up  forward,  till  at  the  end  near  us  a  lot  of 
it  was  wound  in  a  big  roll  on  a  sort  of  spool, 
which  was  turning  and  winding  it  up  all  the  time. 
A  dozen  rolls,  which  had  been  slipped  off  the  spool 
as  it  filled,  were  standing  on  end  in  the  corner. 

We  walked  to  the  other  end,  and  passed  a  group 
of  large  rolls  which  shed  heat  around,  like  a  stove. 
A  young  man  standing  near  by  readily  explained 
that  these  rollers  were  hollow  and  heated  by  steam, 
admitted  within  ;  so  that  the  paper  was  thoroughly 
dried  as  it  passed  over  them. 

We  went  on,  and  saw  a  blanket  moving  toward 


168  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

us;  it  came  slowly  along,  carrying  the  band  of 
paper  on  top,  till  at  last  it  turned  down  around  a 
roller,  the  same  as  a  belt,  leaving  the  paper  to  go 
the  rest  of  the  way  by  itself,  and  went  back  under- 
neath to  the  roller  at  the  other  end,  where  it  came 
around  up  and  met  the  paper.  It  could  hardly  be 
called  paper,  here,  as  it  was  only  a  thin  layer  of 
wet  pulp ;  but  it  kept  draining  as  the  blanket 
carried  it  along. 

Hereabouts  the  affair  was  so  covered  in  by  boards 
and  timbers  that  we  couldn't  fix  the  point  where  the 
sheet  took  form  ;  but  soon  we  reached  the  end, . 
where  the  pulp  came  down  through  a  trough  from 
the  room  above,  and  poured  into  a  large  box  into 
which  a  steam  pump  was  sending  a  stream  of  water  ; 
and  over  the  other  edge  of  the  box  the  wet  stuff 
was  constantly  crowding. 

I  asked  if  they  made  writing  paper  here,  and  the 
young  man  said  no  ;  only  wrapping  paper.  He 
told  us  that  for  finer  kinds  a  still  longer  machine 
was  needed,  with  a  wire  belt  as  well  as  the  blanket, 
and  apparatus  for  "sizing";  the  pulp  also  had  to 
be  finer  and  of  better  material. 

We  went  into  a  room  where  were  heaped  to- 
gether all  sorts  of  old  paper,  envelopes,  postal- 
cards,  etc.,  also  straw  and  old  rope,  and  a  bale  or 
two  of  rags  ;  all  to  be  worked  up  into  clean,  new 
wrapping  paper. 

Adjoining  this  was  a  room  at  the  corner  of  the 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  169 

building,  which  was  almost  filled  up  with  an  im- 
mense round  vat,  three  or  four  yards  across,  and 
rising  above  our  heads  till  it  almost  touched  the 
roof-beams  ;  the  place  was  full  of  steam,  and  smelt 
like  washing-day,  only  worse.  Every  day  was 
washing-day  there  ;  for  in  that  great  tub  was  boiled 
and  steamed  the  refuse  stuff  which  we  had  just  been 
looking  at. 

We  didn't  stay  here  long,  but  went  up-stairs  to  a 
big  room  in  the  second  story  of  the  main  building, 
where  was  a  steam-engine  that  wasn't  going,  and  two 
more  big  vats  ;  but  these  weren't  much  over  a  foot 
deep,  and  we  could  look  in  and  see  what  was 
inside. 

The  one  we  first  came  to,  was  full  almost  to  the 
edge  with  blue  pulp,  such  as  we  had  seen  coming 
down  the  spout ;  it  was  a  pasty,  unpleasant-looking 
mess,  like  dark-blue  mud  ;  and  one  wouldn't  think 
it  was  all  ready  for  making  into  nice  clean  paper  ;  but 
it  was. 

There  was  a  sort  of  paddle-box  arrangement  in 
the  tub  ;  not  in  the  middle,  but  close  against  one 
side,  with  a  wheel  whirling  around  in  it,  out  of 
sieht,  which  had  knives  set  in  the  rim  ;  the  axle 
stood  out,  and  carried  a  pulley  with  a  belt  which 
ran  down  through  slits  in  the  floor  to  where  the 
power  was.  A  man  came  in,  and  told  us  about  it ; 
he  said  the  wheel  sucked  the  pulp  in  at  one  side, 
and  sent  it  out  at  the  other,  cutting  it  finer  on   the 


170    *  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

way ;  we  could  see  that  the  whole  mass  was  slowly 
making  the  circuit  of  the  tub. 

The  other  vat  looked  just  the  same,  but  its  work 
was  less  particular  ;  for  it  did  the  finest  grinding, 
and  the  pulp  was  coarser.  Near  by  was  a  row  of 
barrels  against  the  wall,  which  held  dry-ground 
colors  of  various  kinds  ;  bright  chrome-yellow,  blue, 
green,  red,  and  black.  The  color  was  mixed  with 
the  pulp  in  the  second  vat,  or  "  beating-engine,"  as 
he  called  it.  He  said  that  the  long  machine  which 
made  the  paper  was  called  a  "  Fourdrinier,"  after 
the  Frenchman  who  perfected  it  about  eighty  years 
ago. 

We  found  that  the  steam-engine  was  used  in  dry 
times,  when  the  stream  was  low  ;  but  now  they  were 
running  the  mill  by  water-power.  Joe  asked  where 
the  wheel  was  ;  and  the  man  told  him  to  look  out 
of  the  window,  and  he  could  see  all  there  was  to  be 
seen. 

We  did  so  —  and  there  was  another  big  vat 
or  hogshead  down  below,  with  a  spout  leading  to 
the  top  of  it  from  the  mill-pond ;  its  lower  part 
stood  in  the  sluice-way,  and  the  water  came  foaming 
up  around  it,  and  ran  off  down  to  the  river ;  the 
wheel  was  inside,  out  of  sight.  He  said  it  was  a 
"  turbine  "  wheel,  of  thirty  horse  power. 

Then  we  went  down  another  flight  of  stairs, 
which  led  to  an  outside  door,  close  to  the  boiler 
house ;  there  were  two  boilers,  but  only  one  was 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  iyi 

fired  up,  to  make  steam  for  the  washing-vat.  Nobody 
was  there. 

"This  is  as  big  as  Shad  Factory,"  remarked  Joe, 
V  and  it  takes  only  two  or  three  men  to  run  the 
whole  concern  ! " 

We  turned  the  corner  of  a  one-story  brick  "  L," 
a  storage-room,  for  we  could  see  boxes  and  rolls  of 
paper  through  the  windows. 

"Well,"  said  Joe,  "we've  explored  the  paper- 
mill  ;  and  now  we'll  have  to  think  about  eettine 
the  Triton  up  into  the  pond.  Hullo!  look  at 
that !  " 

He  pointed  to  the  window  we  were  passing,  and 
there  on  one  of  the  panes  was  a  picture  —  on  two 
of  them  !  The  first  was  a  baby,  with  astonished 
eyes  and  its  mouth  wide  open,  and  a  dress  per- 
fectly loaded  with  laces  and  flummery ;  and  the 
other  was  a  two-horse  team  at  somebody's  front 
door,  with  one  man  holding  the  horses'  heads,  and 
another  on  the  front  seat  grasping  the  lines,  with  a 
man  and  woman  in  behind ;  five  or  six  people  were 
standing  in  the  doorway  or  sitting  on  the  steps,  all 
looking  straight  at  you. 

It  was  plain  enough  that  these  were  photographs, 
and  on  glass  ;  but  who'd  have  expected  to  see  that 
kind  of  window-panes — especially  up  here,  fifteen  or 
twenty  miles  from  everywhere  ! 

We  examined  the  windows  as  we  went  along, 
but  didn't  see  any  more  till  we  came  to  the  room 


IJ2  k  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

where  we  first  went  in,  and  that  was  just  full  of  'em, 
there  were  plenty  of  windows,  anyway  ;  and  some 
were  pretty  nearly  half  made  up  of  pictures.  It 
was  strange  we  hadn't  noticed  them  when  we  first 
came  up,  but  then  our  eyes  were  all  for  the  machin- 
ery. They  were  mainly  human  beings  of  all  kinds 
and  ages ;  with  a  few  store-fronts  and  dwelling- 
houses  ;  and  there  was  one  view  of  some  cows  in  a 
field. 

The  young  man  saw  us,  and  came  to  the  door. 

"  Do  paper-mills  generally  sport  this  kind  of  an 
art  gallery,  or  is  this  one  putting  on  more  style 
than  common?"  inquired  Joe. 

He  laughed,  and  said  he  didn't  think  we'd  find 
the  like  anywhere  else, —  not  as  far  as  he  knew. 
Then  he  went  on  and  told  us  that  a  man  had  lately 
bought  an  interest  in  the  concern,  who  had  been  a 
photographer  in  Boston.  Now  he  was  agent  there 
for  the  mill. 

Before  he  took  hold,  it  hadn't  been  running  for 
a  spell ;  and  some  mischievous  scamp  had  done  con- 
siderable window-smashing.  So  this  man  sent 
down  a  lot  of  his  old  negatives  to  use  in  making 
repairs*. 

"  Come  and  see  how  they  look  from  inside." 

So  we  went  in  again  and  looked  through  them 
at  the  sky  ;  and  it  was  queer  enough.  A  man's  nose 
and  forehead  would  be  black,  and  his  eyes  and  mous- 
tache white ;  the  trees  white,  and  sky  black,  etc.  ; 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  173 

just  the  opposite  of  what  they  properly  were.  But 
from  outside,  with  the  dark  machinery  behind,  they 
looked  all  risfht. 

"That  your  boat?"  said  our  friend,  coming  to 
the  door  with  us  as  we  went  out. 

"  Yes  ;  and  we'll  need  help  to  get  her  up  into  the 
pond.     Know  of  anybody?" 

"  Jim  was  around  here  half  an  hour  ago,  but  I 
Qfuess  he's  eone  home.      I'll  see  if  he's  within  hail." 

He  yelled  for  "  Jim  "  two  or  three  times,  and  be- 
tween whiles  we  told  him  where  we  were  from,  and 
about  our  camping  out,  etc.,  and  he  was  quite  inter- 
ested. He  said  he'd  help  us  himself,  only  he 
couldn't  leave  long  enough  ;  but  if  we'd  go  up  the 
road  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  we'd  come  to  where 
Jim  lived,  and  he  or  his  brother,  or  both,  would  be 
willing  to  help  us  over,  he  knew. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  mill  lay  between  the  road  and  the  river  ;  and 
a  short  lane  branched  down  to  it.  When  we  were 
nearly  through  the  lane,  we  saw  a  boy  coming  down 
the  road  ;  he  was  a  little  larger  than  either  of  us, 
and  carried  a  lono-  bamboo  fishing-rod. 

"Perhaps  that's  him!"  whispered  Joe. 

He  turned  the  corner  toward  us,  and  Joe  gave  a 
nod  and  asked,  "  Do  you  know  anything  of  the 
whereabouts  of  Jim  Haskell?" 

"That's  my  brother!"  he  replied,  looking  at  us 
curiously;  "  he'll  be  after  me  with  the  bait  in  a 
few  minutes.  What  d'ye  want  of  him, — you  know 
him  ?" 

"  We  thought  may  be  you  were  him  ;  so  you  see 
we're  not  exactly  acquainted  with  him  ;  but  a  man 
down  here  at  the  mill  said  perhaps  he'd  help  us  get 
our  boat  up  to  the  pond,  so  we  had  just  started 
alone  to  find  him." 

"You  got  a  boat  here?"  he  asked  eagerly. 
"Where  did  you  come  from  —  Harlow's  Pond  ?" 

"  We  were  there  this  morning  and  got  some 
fish,  and  we'd  like  to  try  our  luck  in  the  pond  here  ; 
how  is  it  —  is  there  much  worth  trying  for?" 

"  Well,  not  much  for  size ;  you  can  always  get 
perch  and  'pouts,  but  they're  small." 

174 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  175 

Then  he  asked  us  about  our  luck  that  morning", 
and  we  told  him  about  Joe's  pickerel.  By  that 
time  his  brother  came  running  up,  and  we  were  in 
sight  of  the  boat. 

"  These  fellows  want  us  to  help  get  their  boat 
over -into  the  pond." 

Jim  was  a  thick-set  chap,  rather  smaller  than 
either  of  us ;  he  looked  stout  and.  spry,  and  eyed  us 
keenly  ;  but  before  he  could  say  anything  the  other 
told  him  we  were  from  Harlow's  Pond,  and  had 
caught  a  pickerel  there  that  morning. 

"You  won't  get  any  pickerel  here  !  you'd  better 
have  kept  on  there." 

"  Well,  we  thought  we'd  come  up  this  way,  and 
see  what  there  was  anyhow.  It's  worth  the  trip  to 
see  your  picture-show  here  !  " 

The  boys  grinned.  "Yes,"  said  Jim,  "we  call 
that  Charley's  studio.  There  he  is  now," — as  the 
young  man  appeared  at  the  door. 

"  I  told  these  boys  I  thought  you'd  help  them 
with  their  boat.      It  didn't  take    'em  ionor  to  find 

o 

you  ! 

"  If  they'd  waited  a  little,  they  needn't  have 
started  at  all !  We  were  on  our  way  here.  Now, 
Si,"  Jim  went  on,  "we'd  better  not  take  this  boat 
nearer  to  the  dam  ;  it's  steeper  banks  there,  and  it'll 
be  easier  to  carry  her  a  longer  way,  where  it  isn't 
so  much  uphill." 

So  we  crossed  in  her  to  the  other  side,  and  tugged 


176   k  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

her  out  on  the  turf,  where  we  unloaded  the  bags, 
sail  and  oars,  etc.  The  boys  wondered  what  our 
tent-stakes  were  for,  so  we  told  them  ;  and  said  we 
intended  to  camp  out  that  night,  somewhere  farther 

UP\ 

Jim  persisted  that  we  wouldn't  find  better  fishing 

anywhere  above.      He  didn't  seem  to  think  of  our 

going  just  for  the  fun  of  going. 

We  remembered  how  awkward  it  was,  carrying 
her  before,  because  there  was  no  place  where  we 
could  take  hold  and  walk  along  comfortably :  so 
now  Joe  brought  out  a  new  plan  he  had  been  hatch- 
ing up.  He  led  the  painter  across  underneath,  a 
little  back  of  the  bow,  so  it  made  a  bight  which  he 
could  throw  over  his  shoulder ;  while  I  could  also 
shoulder  a  loop  of  it  on  the  other  side.  Then  he 
cast  off  the  anchor  rope,  and  rigged  it  the  same 
way  for  the  other  boys. 

We  plucked  leaves  and  stuffed  our  pillows,  to  put 
under  the  rope  so  it  wouldn't  cut  into  us,  and  the 
other  fellows  found  some  bits  of  board  which  they 
said  would  answer  for  them. 

Then  we  got  ourselves  in  position  and  straight- 
ened up  at  the  word  ;  and  Joe's  idea  worked  tip- 
top. We  walked  straight  ahead,  and  never  set  her 
down  till  we  reached  the  edge  of  the  mill-pond. 

This  dam  was  twice  as  high  as  the  one  at  Shad 
Factory  ;  there  must  have  been  quite  a  fall  there 
before  it  was  built  up,  but  it  wasn't  as  wide.     The 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  177 

pond  widened  out  from  it,  and  was  nearly  round, 
instead  of  long-,  like  the  other. 

The  boys  went  back  with  us  to  help  bring  our 
things  to  the  boat,  and  wouldn't  think  of  taking  any 
pay  ;  but  they  said  the  only  boat  on  the  pond  had 
been  taken  by  Tim  Conway  to  go  up  a  little  farther 
and  get  some  lilies  ;  they  expected  him  back  every 
minute,  but  till  he  came  they  would  like  to  fish 
from  our  boat,  if  we  didn't  mind. 

So  we  didn't  load  our  things  in  yet,  but  all  four  of 
us  stepped  aboard,  and  I  pulled  to  where  they  said, 
a  little  beyond  the  middle  of  the  pond";  the  anchor 
just  reached,  but  it  held  her,  as  there  was  hardly 
any  wind. 

We  all  managed  to  get  our  lines  out  clear  of 
each  other,  but  sure  enough  the  fishing  didn't  seem 
to  be  as  good  here.  The  pond  wasn't  half  the  size, 
for  one  thing.  Joe  caught  a  perch  and  I  got  a 
bream.  The  others  didn't  do  any  better,  for  all 
they  were  used  to  it  and  had  regular  poles. 

We  didn't  keep  it  up  long,  for  in  a  little  over  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  Tim  Conway  came  back  with 
the  boat  they  wanted,  —  a  rough  little  tub  —  and 
after  he  got  ashore  with  his  lilies  we  rowed  up  to 
it ;  Jim  and  Si  clambered  in  with  their  fish,  paddled 
themselves  out  into  the  pond,  and  set  to  watching 
their  floats  again,  while  we  pulled  to  where  our 
goods  lay  on  the  bank,  and  loaded  them  aboard. 
Then  we  headed  up  and  away,  to  see  what  the  re- 
gions beyond  had  in  store  for  us. 

12 


178  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

V. 

While  we  were  fishing  the  boys  had  told  us  there 
was  another  mill  —  a  small  grist-mill  —  about  two 
miles  farther  up  ;  but  they  didn't  believe  we  could 
get  there,  for  half  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile  this 
side  of  it  was  a  place  where  the  stream  spread  out 
over  a  wide  gravel-bed  and  split  into  several  -parts, 
all  shallow. 

We  suggested  that  perhaps  we  could  get  some- 
body to  help  carry  the  boat  around,  but  they  said 
it  would  be  a  prettv  long  tug.  Then  beyond  the 
mill  it  wasn't  any  too  easy  for  a  boat, —  not  after 
we  left  the  pond  ;  but  that  was  twice  the  length  of 
this  one,  though  not  as  wide. 

That's  Glenn's  Pond,"  said  Jim,  "and  Hollis- 
ville's  within  three  miles  above." 

We  asked  him  how  large  a  place  that  was,  and 
he  said  it  was  all  along  one  street  —  the  Woodfield 
'Pike;  there  were  two  churches,  a  store  and  post- 
office  and  a  blacksmith's  shop.  And  Silas  was  tell- 
ing us  about  some  kind  of  cave  in  the  rocks  not 
very  far  ahead,  on  the  right  hand  side,  only  it  was 
in  thick  woods,  and  we  couldn't  see  it  from  the 
stream. 

"  But  there's  a  tree  lying  across  —  come  to  think, 
you'll  bring  up  against  it." 

"  We'll  see  about  that ! "  put  in  Joe. 

■■'  O  yes  ;  you  can  get  around  by  —  well,  there  s  a 
kind  of  trail  leading  across  where  that  tree  is,  —  not 
very  plain,  but  I  guess  you  can  make  it  out,  —  and  it 
eoes  rig-fit  to  the  rocks." 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  ijq 

He  went  on,  how  he  had  "  heard  tell  "  that  some- 
body killed  a  bear  in  that  den  a  good  while  ago  and 
I  asked  if  it  was  since  he  was  born. 

"  Massy,  no  !  "  laughed  Jim  ;  "  'twas  four  or  five 
hundred  years  ago." 

"Then  it  must  have  been  Indians  did  it!"  de- 
clared Joe. 

Silas  told  Jim  he'd  better  keep  his  clapper  shut, 
and  not  let  folks  find  out  he  didn  t  know  nothin'. 

"  'Twasn't  no  Injuns  did  it,"  he  said,  "  'twas  one  of 
the  old  settlers,  'way  back,  some  time  before  the 
Revolutionary  War." 

But  he  didn't  know  any  particulars, — that  was 
all  he  could  tell  us  about  it. 

We  pulled  out  of  the  pond,  and  into  a  woodland 
patch  which  cut  off  our  view  of  it ;  but  first  we 
waved  hats  to  the  boys,  and  they  waved  back.  After 
a  few  minutes  in  the  shade,  we  came  on  a  place 
where  the  stream  widened  out,  and  was  covered 
with  lily-pads,  except  a  narrow  channel  winding 
through  the  middle;  but  there  were  no  flowers — 
only  buds;  Conway  had  made  a  clean  sweep. 

The  stream  was  deep  along  here,  but  not  very 
wide,  just  about  room  for  the  oars ;  the  current 
was  tolerably  strong,  and  we  didn't  get  ahead  very 
fast.  Here  and  there  were  notches  and  nooks 
where  little  crowds  of  shiny  black  water-beetles 
were  spinning  about.  We  were  now  in  the  fields 
again  ;  but  we  saw  woods  about  half  a  mile,  north- 


I&>  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAt. 

east,  and  concluded  that  the  cave  must  be  there. 
Our  winding  course  led  us  there  at  last,  after  along, 
hot  pull  against  the  current. 

We  were  glad  to  get  into  the  shade  once  more, 
for  it  was  the  hottest  weather  we  had  explored  in; 
I  was  rowing,  and  thought  of  getting  out  and  rest- 
ing a  while  under  the  trees,  but  Joe  persuaded  me 
to  push  on  as  far  as  the  cave.  He  said  we'd  make 
a  long  halt  then,  and  he'd  take  the  oars  after  that. 

Those  were  pleasant  woods;  big  trees  and  not 
much  undergrowth,  it  was  so  shady.  A  rabbit 
jumped  away  from  close  by  us;  the  sunbeams  strag- 
gled down  across  the  trunks  here  and  there,  and 
he'd  keep  coming  in  sight  as  he  bounded  through 
those  bright  places,  and  then  we'd  lose  him  again — 
but  in  ten  seconds  he  was  gone  for  good. 

"  I  wish  Harry  Burrows  would  have  let  me  take 
his  revolver!  "  exclaimed  Joe,  '"we'd  have  had  rabbit 
for  supper." 

I  didn't  see  at  all  that  his  having  had  a  revolver 
along  would  have  been  likely  to  make  any  difference 
about  our  supper.  But  I  only  remarked  that  the 
rabbit  must  have  been  to  the  water  to  drink. 

"  Rabbits  never  drink  !  "  said  Joe;  but  I  told  him 
these  wild  rabbits  were  quite  different  from  the  tame 
ones,  which  came  from  Europe  in  the  first  place  ; 
these  were  really  hares  ;  and  I  didn't  believe  any- 
body could  say  they  didn't  drink,  for  I  never  heard 
of  one  being"  tamed. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  181 

Joe  didn't  make  any  reply  to  that,  for  he'd  caught 
sight  of  the  tree  across  the  stream,  just  ahead.  It 
was  a  good-sized  tree,  and  had  been  there  a  good 
while  ;  for  the  limbs  were  dead,  and  mostly  broken 
off.  The  spot  where  it  had  grown  was  several  feet 
from  the  water,  so  that  the  main  part  of  the  trunk 
lay  up  ashore  ;  and  where  it  reached  the  stream,  it 
began  to  branch  out. 

If  it  hadn't  been  for  that,  we  might  have  crowded 
under;  but  some  of  the  old  stumps  of  branches 
stuck  down  into  the  water,  and  barred  our  way. 
'Twas  an  awkward  thing  to  get  around,  for  the  trunk 
stretched  well  in  shore  on  one  side,  and  the  snaggy 
top  about  as  far  on  the  other. 

The  limbs  on  the  upper  side  were  gone,  so  one 
could  walk  over  without  any  trouble  ;  and  we  con- 
cluded the  best  way  would  be  to  try  and  haul  the 
boat  over,  close  to  the  east  bank,  where  the  tree 
was  smooth,  and  not  more  than  a  foot  above 
water.  But  I  was  tired  ;  and  we  made  up  our  minds 
to  leave  that  job  till  we  got  back  from  the  cave. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

We  found  the  path  leading  up  from  the  tree, 
where  the  dead  leaves  and  slender  weed-stalks 
showed  signs  of  trampling,  and  followed  it  along 
easily,  over  plenty  of  big  toadstools,  bright  red  on 
top,  and  several  unripe  puff-balls  ;  we  broke  some 
of  these  open,  and  they  did  look  good  enough  to 
eat  —  so  white  and  meaty  ;  but  we  knew  toadstools 
were  decidedly  unwholesome,  to  say  the  least,  and 
likely  enough  the  puff-balls  were  too  ;  at  any  rate, 
we  didn't  care  to  be  the  first  to  try. 

But  —  what  was  more  interesting  —  I  noticed 
some  stalks  of  "  Indian  pipe,"  which  I  had  only 
seen  once  before  ;  and  Joe  had  not  seen  it  at  all.  It 
seemed  like  a  sort  of  ghost-plant  —  so  white  all  over, 
stalk,  leaves,  and  flower  —  and  its  whole  substance 
is  like  potato-sprouts  in  a  cellar. 

The  name  fits  well ;  for  it's  shaped  very  like  pic- 
tures I've  seen  of  old  Indian  calumets  ;  the  leaves 
fringe  around  in  regular  rows  like  the  feather  trim- 
mings, and  the  flower  curves  over  like  the  bowl.  I 
gathered  some,  and  I  wished  I  could  keep  them 
that  way;  but  of  course  they  wilt  —  and  there's  an- 
other curious  thing  ;  they  turn  browner  and  browner, 
till  when  they're  dried  up,  they're  almost  jet-black, 
same  as  a  proof  from  the  photographer's. 

183 


•INDIAN  PIPE." 


183 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  185 

We  found  ourselves  walking  up  hill,  and  there 
were  rocks  showing  ahead  between  the  tree-trunks, 
but  we  didn't  see  the  cave  till  we  got  there,  for  it 
wasn't  on  the  side  toward  us.  There  was  no  hole 
in  the  rock  ;  it  was  where  a  huge  boulder  had  fallen 
partly  over  and  partly  against  the  ledge  ;  'twas  a 
pretty  respectable  cavern,  though,  to  look  at  from 
outside  ;  with  an  opening  almost  as  big  as  the  side 
of  a  room,  and  dark  as  pitch  in  back. 

Well,  in  we  went,  of  course ;  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments we  found  the  roof  come  sloping  down,  so  we 
had  to  stoop  — in  the  course  of  twenty  paces  we 
were  bent  almost  double.  Joe  said  we  were  running 
it  into  the  ground  ;  and  I  told  him  it  would  run  us 
there,  if  we  kept  on. 

But  we  saw  a  gleam  of  light  from  the  left  —  and 
there  was  a  split  in  the  ledge  which  we  could  squeeze 
through  ;  and  we  were  in  a  sort  of  entry-way  a  few 
feet  long,  where  we  could  stand  upright.  There 
was  a  crack  in  the  roof  where  some  light  sifted 
through,  and  a  sunbeam  struck  in  at  the  farther  end, 
where  there  was  a  thick  bed  of  dry  leaves,  whirled 
in  by  the  wind. 

When  we  got  there,we  could  see  outside,  and  a  few 
steps  brought  us  around  the  end  of  the  ledge;  but 
this  entrance  was  narrow,  and  trees  grew  up,  so  you 
mightn't  notice  it  unless  you  knew  it  was  there. 

Then  we  went  back  through  the  other  way, 
which  was  more  effective, — squeezing  through  that 


i86  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

narrow  slit  into  the  big  chamber,  with  that  wide 
opening  before  us;  and  we  wished  we  had  come 
that  way  first.  We  wondered  in  what  part  the 
bear  lived,  and  which  way  the  man  came  in  for  him; 
and  agreed  that  if  we  were  hunting  him  we'd  rather 
be  in  the  narrowest  part,  where  he  couldn't  jam 
through.  Then  we  could  dodge  either  way,  while 
he  was  running  around  outside  from  one  entrance 
to  the  other;  and  we'd  be  peppering  him  all  the 
time,  whichever  way  he  came. 

Then  we  clambered  to  the  top  of  the  ledge. 
'Twas  getting  along  toward  noon;  it  had  hardly 
seemed  like  it  in  the  woods,  it  was  so  shady;  but 
the  rocks  made  a  break  in  the  trees,  and  there  were 
spaces  where  the  sun  came  down  bright  and  hot, 
so  I  could  hardly  bear  my  hand  on  the  rock. 

We  began  to  feel  hungry,  and  it  wasn't  long  before 
we  started  for  the  boat  again.  There  she  was, 
on  the  down-stream  side  of  the  tree;  I  wished  she 
had  sense  to  crawl  over  of  her  own  accord,  but  that 
was  too  much  to  expect,  even  of  the  Triton. 

So  after  lightening  her,  we  perched  on  the  log, 
and  braced  ourselves  to  the  painter;  and  after  a 
deal  of  tugging  and  swaying,  we  got  her  nose  up 
across.  Then  Joe  went  ahead  with  the  painter, 
while  I  pushed  at  the  stern;  fortunately  there  was  a 
stone  near  the  shore,  with  its  top  just  above  the  sur- 
face, where  I  could  get  a  tolerable  footing. 

By  united  straining  we  forced  her  up  and  across, 


'TWAS  A  PRETTY  RESPECTABLE  CAVERN,  THOUGH,  TO  LOOK  AT 
FROM  OUTSIDE. 


187 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  i5g 

a. few  inches  at  a  time,;  but  the  farther  she  went, 
the  worse  it  was  for  me,  for  I  was  obliged  to  reach 
out  forward,  and  rest  part  of  my  weight  on  the  boat, 
to  keep  balanced.  Then  Joe  had  to  give  a  tug 
before  I  was  readv,  and  he  swung  her  'round 
enough  to  throw  me  off. 

Of  course  I  hung  on  desperately;  while  Joe  was 
startled,  and  let  up  on  his  end; — so  she  came  launch- 
ing back  and  slumped  down  with  me  trailing  under- 
neath, still  hanging  to  the  stern!  I  thought  he 
would  split;  but  then  it  never  did  take  much  to 
tickle  Joe.  "  Now  we're  even!  "  he  cried.  "  Every 
time  we  pull  across  a  log,  one  of  us  has  to  go 
under ! " 

I  told  him  'twas  his  turn  next;  and  he  said  he'd 
bear  it  mind,  next  one  we  came  to.  Then  he  want- 
ed to  begin  over  again,  and  I  refused  to  unless  he 
took  the  stern; — the  fact  was,  I  had  a  different  plan 
in  mind. 

Joe  wasn't  anxious  for  the  change,  after  seeing 
how  it  worked  with  me;  he  declared  I  couldn't  get 
any  wetter;  and  I  reminded  him  that  his  turn  to 
fall  in  didn't  come  till  the  next  log.  Finally,  I 
showed  him  that  by  taking  the  hatchet  and  chop- 
ping off  a  couple  of  the  limbs  that  branched  down 
into  the  water,  we  would  have  room  to  go  under- 
neath. 

That  suited  him;  so  I  cut  away  one,  then  he  tack- 
led the  other,  and  in  five  minutes  the  Triton,  with 


I  go  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

all  her  belongings,  was  on  the  up-stream  side. 
And  now  we  could  come  back  without  any  further 
work;  while  the  other  way,  it  would  have  been  as 
much  trouble  the  second  time  as  the  first. 

Now  we  sat  down  and  had  dinner;  the  brown- 
bread  tasted  first  rate,  and  we  finished  the  loaf;  I 
opened  my  can  of  salmon,  and  each  of  us  ventured 
to  add  one  of  the  ten-minute  eofgfs. 

Then  Joe  took  the  oars,  according  to  agreement; 
and  I  aided  with  an  occasional  shove  from  the 
steerman's  seat.  I  felt  pretty  damp;  but  at  least  I 
was  also  comfortably  cool. 

The  woods  lasted  for  quite  a  spell,  but  it  was 
easy  progress  most  of  the  way;  no  brush  sticking 
in  from  the  banks,  and  a  moderate  current.  After 
we  left  the  woods,  the  stream  was  narrower,  and 
often  we  both  had  to  stand  up  and  urge  her  along 
by  pushing. 

We  saw  a.  long  twig  standing  out  a  yard  from  the 
surface,  that  acted  as  though  it  was  alive  —  it  kept 
twitching  backward  and  forward  as  regularly  as  ma- 
chinery. Joe's  first  notion  was  that  a  fish  had 
tangled  at  the  bottom  ;  but  no  fish  would  have  kept 
it  up  steadily,  that  way.  He  knew  that,  and  was 
rather  puzzled  ;  but  I  soon  saw  it  was  much  the 
same  thing  as  the  "  sawyers  "  on  the  western  rivers, 
which  I  had  read  of. 

■•  It's  this  way,"  I  told  him  ;  "the  current  bends 
it  over  till  the  spring  of  the  twig  gets  stronger  than 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  igt 

the  force  of  the  water  ;  then  the  switch  jerks  back 
to  where  it  relaxes  enough!  for  the  current  to  urge 
it  forward  again.  First  it  submits,  and  then  rebels 
when  the  strain  is  more  than  it  can  stand." 

I  went  on  and  said  that  the  brass  "  reed  "  in  the 
fish-horn  or  accordion  went  the  same  way,  only  a 
deal  faster,  of  course.  And  as  it  turned  out  he 
hadn't  heard  of  the  '  ■  sawyer,"  I  gave  him  some 
light  on  the  subject,  too. 

"  They're  big  trees  that  fall  into  the  river,  when 
the  bank  caves  away ;  and  after  floating  down  a 
while,  they  get  caught  against  the  bottom  by  the 
roots,  and  the  top  lays  down-stream.  The  current 
plays  against  them,  and  forces  them  slowly  down 
out  of  sight ;  but  by-and-by  they  get  to  the  '  stick- 
ing-place,'  and  then  they  come  slowly  rearing  up 
again. 

"  I've  read  that  the  flatboatmen  used  to  hate  them 
worse  than  'most  anything.  They'd  be  sweeping 
'round  some  bend  —  at  night,  perhaps  —  with  the 
river  all  clear  ahead  ;  and  all  at  once  a  great  scraggy 
tree-top'd  come  shaking  and  dripping  up  right  in 
front  of  them  like  a  thousand-legged  sea-monster, 
and  smash  they'd  go  into  it  —  get  stoved  or 
capsized,  like  as  not !  " 

"  And  they  call  'em  sawyers  because  they  keep 
bowing  down  and  straightening  up,  like  a  man 
sawing  cord-wood,  I  suppose.  See  !  there's  a  card- 
inal-flower." 


igi  >  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

There  it  was,  glowing  away  like  a  coal  of  fire,  at 
the  water's  edge.  We  soon  came  in  sight  of  sev- 
eral more,  scattered  along  the  bank,  and  just  blaz- 
ing among  the  green  grass.  Joe  said  he  wished 
he  could  get  some  red  paint  as  bright  as  that. 

"  Would  you  paint  Pierhaven  red?" 

"  Not  quite;  "  he  laughed.  "  But  I'd  put  a  streak 
around  the  old  Triton  that'd  knock  the  spots  out 
of  Walt  Gurney's  Teaser,  and  everything  else  in 
the  harbor!" 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Now  there  came  a  place  where  the  bank  was 
clear  for  some  ways;  and  I  got  out  with  the  painter 
and  towed,  while  Joe  steered.  But  soon  the 
bushes  grew  up  close  again,  and  I  had  to  give  that 
up.  We  had  a  hard  time  getting  her  along  now, 
with  both  current  and  branches  hindering  us,  until 
we  struck  a  gravelly  shallow,  where  the  channel 
was  wider. 

This  could  not  be  the  bad  place  we  had  been 
told  of,  for  there  was  water  enough  to  float  the 
boat  and  us  too;  but  we  got  out  and  waded,  tow- 
ing her  along  by  the  painter,  because  it  was  easier. 

Soon  we  found  a  lot  of  bigger  stones  scattered 
along  the  bed  of  the  stream,  large  as  paving  stones 
and  larger,  so  that  the  boat  scraped  some  of  them; 
the  banks  grew  steeper,  and  the  water  narrower 
and  deeper,  till  it  was  almost  to  our  knees,  and  we 
had  to  stop  wading. 

The  current  was  swift,  and  it  was  as  much  as  we 
could  do  to  make  any  headway;  so  I  went  ashore, 
though  the  trees  were  pretty  thick,  and  by  tying 
the  rope  around  my  waist,  and  using  both  my  hands 
to  work  my  way  past  the  trunks  and  branches,  we 
got  a  few  rods  farther  up.  At  last  a  tree  branched 
across   so  thickly  that   I   had  to  take  to  the  boat 

103 

13  J 


194  \  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

again.     We  grasped  the  limbs  and  pulled  ourselves 

by. 

Here  was  a  bend;  and  when  we  rounded  it  there 
were  the  shallows  sure  enough!  a  broad  stretch  of 
sand  and  gravel,  with  two  separate  streams  curving 
about  over  it. 

In  a  minute  or  two  we  came  to  the  fork,  and 
turned  into  the  larger  stream;  there  was  plenty  of 
room  to  walk  on  either  side,  so  I  took  the  painter 
out  on  the  right,  and  Joe  took  the  anchor  rope  on 
the  left,  and  on  we  went  at  a  fairly  good  rate.  This 
lasted  only  a  little  while;  then  the  water  spread  out 
wider,  and  the  boat  began  to  scrape  the  bottom; 
soon  it  was  so  shallow,  we  had  hard  work  pulling 
her. 

We  let  go  and  walked  ahead  a  little  to  see  how 
things  looked.  In  a  few  rods  the  streams  united, 
and  the  water  was  a  foot  deep;  farther  on  the  grav- 
elly bed  made  a  curve  which  we  didn't  go  around 
then,  but  went  back  to  fetch  up  the  boat.  I  caught 
hold  astern  and  pushed,  while  Joe  towed;  when  we 
came  to  a  hard  place,  I'd  pull  upward  and  lift  some 
of  her  weight,  and  so  ease  her  over.  In  this  way 
we  reached  the  point  where  the  streams  joined, 
and  then  we  towed  on  around  the  bend  without  any 
trouble. 

But  again  the  water  divided,  and  the  boat  began 
to  scratch  gravel  once  more.  Still  we  persevered, 
though  we  knew  there  couldn't  be  much  paint  left 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  195 

on  the  poor  Tritons  bottom;  I  could  see  bright 
green  patches  of  it  on  the  larger  pebbles,  as  I  urged 
her  onward. 

This  gravelly  region  didn't  wind  about  as  much 
as  some  places  we'd  been  over,  and  the  bends 
weren't  sharp;  still  there  was  no  time  when  we  could 
see  very  far  ahead;  and  so  all  at  once  we  were  sur- 
prised to  find  our  branch  dividing  again,  and  there 
was  no  getting  farther  by  either  way. 

We  knew  the  other  branch  hadn't  divided;  it  had 
been  flowing  along  at  our  left,  sometimes  close 
under  the  shrubby  bank,  sometimes  along  the  mid- 
dle, and  once  or  twice  almost  meeting  our  branch. 

We  walked  on  quite  a  distance,  to  take  another 
survey, —  and  the  stream  we  had  been  following 
divided  still  again,  and  went  straying  about  in  three 
different  channels ;  the  water  slipped  and  rippled 
over  the  gravel  very  prettily,  but  we  had  no  use 
for  these  cunning  little  streamlets. 

The  other,  or  left  branch,  seemed  to  still  hold  its 
own  ;  —  though  there  was  less  water  in  it  than  the 
other  had  held  at  its  best ;  and  we  and  the  Triton 
knew  there  wasn't  enough  in  that. 

"  We  must  get  to  that  next  pond,  anyway  !"  de- 
clared Joe;  and  I  felt  the  same  way.  So  we  re- 
turned to  the  boat,  and  unloaded  our  things  on  the 
gravel,  then  pulled  her  across  to  the  other  branch ; 
and  we  had  little  more  trouble  in  getting  her  up 
that,  than  on  the  other  with  her  load  in.     After 


ipS  u  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

taking  her  up  a  little  way,  we  stopped  a  few  moments 
to  get  the  bags  and  blankets  and  put  them  in  again, 
leaving  the  oars,  sail,  and  tent-fixings ;  then  on 
we  scraped.  It  was  tedious  business  ;  but  we  hoped 
it  was  as  much  as  half  through  with. 

We  got  beyond  where  our  first  branch  split  into 
three  ;  and  after  awhile  one  of  those  came  into  ours, 
or  rather  ran  out  of  it,  so  the  first  branch  was  partly 
made  of  an  offshoot  from  this  one  !  This  made  it 
a  little  easier  —  but  soon  the  miserable  rivulet  was 
behaving  worse  than  ever. 

It  split  into  two  equal  branches;  and  ahead,  in 
plain  sight,  it  divided  still  again,  and  there  were 
five  streams  meandering  about  over  that  gravel-bed, 
which  was  there  about  four  rods  wide  ! 

We  left  the  boat,  and  followed  the  concern  up, 
and  it  was  just  crazy.  The  water  crooked  all  about, 
running  together  and  splitting  apart,  making  long 
irregular  islands  ;  sometimes  there  would  be  quite 
a  decent  depth  in  some  one  channel,  but  it  wouldn't 
last  any  time. 

"  It  looks  too  much  like  the  head  of  navigation!" 
I  muttered. 

Joe  made  no  reply,  but  looked  rather  grim;  pres- 
ently he  said,  "  Let's  see  how  far  this  goes,  any- 
way  ! 

So  we  plodded  on  over  the  gravel.  There  were 
woods  on  each  side ;  sometimes  tall,  sometimes 
scrubby  ;  we  kept  in  the  shade  as  much  as  we  could, 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  197 

for  the  stones  were  just  baking  in  the  sun.  First 
we'd  be  on  an  island,  then  "mainland";  when  a 
streamlet  crossed  our  path,  we  waded  through  and 
kept  straight  ahead. 

At  last  the  branches  came  together  in  one,  which 
was  broad  and  rather  shallow,  and  flowed  rapidly 
over  gravel ;  still  it  was  deep  enough  for  us.  Be- 
tween there  and  the  boat,  though,  was  all  that 
desolation,  scarcely  better  than  dry  land  ;  she  was 
little  more  than  half-way  through  this  miserable 
region. 

"  We  might  walk  up  to  the  mill,  and  ask  'em  to 
open  the  sluice  and  let  some  of  the  pond  water 
down  here,"  I  suggested. 

"  That'd  wash  us  down  to  the  paper-mill ! "  said 
he. 

"Oh  no!  a  little  wouldn't;  and  we  don't  need " 

"  Hold  on  a  minute  !"  he  interrupted  ;  and  I  saw 
he  was  in  a  "study."  Then  he  brightened  up.  "  I 
think  we'll  get  her  here  !  "  he  said.  "  The  head  of 
navigation  isn't  nearer  than  Glenn's  Pond,  yet !  " 

"  It'll  take  all  the  afternoon  ! "   I  declared. 

Joe  pulled  out  the  inevitable  timekeeper. 

"  I'll  bet  this,"  he  announced  impressively,  "  that 
we'll  float  here  — float  here,  inside  an  hour  !  " 

"  Don't ! "  I  replied,  "  I  wouldn't  take  it  from 
you!" 

"  Twenty  minutes  to  one,"  he  went  on.  "  Hurry 
along  back,  and  I'll  tell  you  !" 


ig8  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

He  strode  along  at  nearly  a  run,  saying,  "Your 
talking  about  filling  up  here  from  that  pond,  put  it 
into  my  head.  We  can  have  a  pond  of  our  own  ! 
Just  put  a  dam  below  this  stuff,  where  it's  narrow — 
there  are  those  big  stones,  just  the  thing  —  and 
there  you  are  !" 

"Joe,  you've  hit  it  again  !"  I  cried.  "Ain't  I  glad 
I  took  you  along  !  " 

"All  we  want,"  he  pursued,  "  is  three  or  four 
inches  more  depth  in  these  runlets;  and  it  won't 
take  long  to  do  that,  with  the  amount  of  water 
there  is  coming  down." 

We  were  both  delighted  with  the  idea,  and  hur- 
ried on,  skipping  across  the  rivulets.  Here  lay  our 
boat,  seemingly  at  the  end  of  her  voyage. 

"  We'll  soon  change  all  that! "  I  panted. 

"  Yes!  the  Tritons  farthest  north  is  yet  to  be  re- 
corded!" he  uttered  majestically. 

When  we  reached  the  narrows,  we  had  to  leave 
the  margin  of  the  stream,  because  of  the  thick 
bushes  along  the  bank;  we  were  a  little  confused 
by  the  dense  shrubbery  clumps,  and  got  farther  from 
the  river  than  we  intended;  so  that  we  were  sev- 
eral minutes  in  finding  it  again,  and  struck  it  far- 
ther down  than  the  place  we  had  in  mind. 

We  were  at  the  point  where  the  stream  first 
widened  out  and  showed  a  gravelly  bottom;  but 
it  didn't  take  long  to  wade  up  to  the  big  stones, 
and  what  we  had  to  do  was  to  carry  these  up  to 


O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T.  igp 

where  the  narrows  were,  with  high  banks  on  either 
side. 

This  was  no  easy  job;  for  before  we  got  there, 
the  water  grew  so  deep  we  had  to  dump  them  on 
the  bank,  to  be  carried  where  we  wanted  them 
afterward.  It  was  more  fun  than  towing  the  boat, 
however;  for  we  were  "  stealing  a  march"  on  our 
perverse  river  again,  as  we  did  at  the  peninsula. 
The  heaviest  stones  we  "  toted  "  alone  without 
lifting  them  out  of  the  water;  as  you  know,  this 
took  from  their  weight  as  much  as  a  "  piece"  (so  to 
speak)  of  water  their  size  would  weigh. 

When  we  had  piled  quite  aheap,  we  began  throw- 
ing them  in  where  we  had  decided  the  dam  should 
be,  on  each  side,  leaving  a  place  in  the  middle  to 
be  filled  up  last.  Before  any  of  our  work  showed 
out  of  water,  we  had  to  go  back  for  more  stones; 
this  time  we  brought  smaller  ones,  as  we  had  used 
up  the  big  ones  for  the  foundation;  and  soon  our 
dam  was  built  up  to  the  surface  on  each  side. 

We  found  it  would  have  been  better  to  use  the 
small  ones  first,  for,  now  that  the  passage  was  partly 
filled,  the  water  poured  with  double  power  through 
the  room  left  to  it ;  and  our  stones  were  rolled  and 
trundled  out  of  the  way  almost  as  fast  as  we  threw 
them  in.  We  saw  that  would  never  do  ;  we  were 
wasting  time  and  materials  ;  but  Joe  was  equal  to 
this  difficulty  also. 

"  Pity   we  hadn't  thought  to  fetch  the  hatchet 


200  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

along  ! "  he  said,  "  but  I  guess  we  can  make  out 
without  going  back  for  it." 

Then  we  set  out  to  cut  down  a  few  young  trees 
with  a  jack-knife.  This  isn't  so  hard  to  do  as  you 
might  think,  "4£  you  only  know  how."  Perhaps 
you  do  know  ;  but  anyway  it'll  do  no  harm  to  tell. 
If  the  tree  is  slender  enough  for  you  to  bend  sharp 
over,  the  rest  is  as  good  as  done. 

We  picked  out  some  young  hickories,  one  to  two 
inches  thick,  and  pulled  one  over  till  its  top  lay  on 
the  ground  ;  the  bent  place  may  have  been  a  foot 
and  a  half  from  the  roots.  Then  I  brought  the 
knife  to  bear  on  the  upper  side  of  the  bend,  and  in 
a  second  'twas  three-quarters  of  the  way  through,  as 
though  'twere  cutting  cheese  ! 

You  see  the  '"  philosophy "  of  it  was  this  :  the 
knife  didn't  get  wedged.  It's  always  easy  enough 
to  cut  into  the  surface;  it's  after  that  the  trouble 
begins ;  but  here  it  was  surface  right  along,  for  the 
strained  fibers  drew  apart  out  of  the  way,  and  there 
wasn't  any  packing.  I  needn't  say,  though,  that 
your  knife  should  have  an  edge  several  degrees 
sharper  than  a  hoe. 

The  cut  wouldn't  go  quite  through,  so  we  bent 
it  the  opposite  way,  after  a  little  bother  from  the 
top  getting  against  the  other  trees  ;  then  we  finished 
the  cut  from  the  other  side.  We  divided  this  and 
two  others  into  lengths  of  about  four  feet  each,  in 
the  same  way,  bending  them  around  the  trunks  of 
larger  trees. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  201 

Of  course,  the  idea  was  to  build  these  in  across 
the  opening-,  so  as  to  hold  the  stones  with  which  we 
filled  up  afterward.  Joe  had  to  take  off  his  clothes, 
and  go  right  in,  so  as  to  get  at  it  properly  ;  of 
course  he  didn't  mind  that,  but  he  found  it  hard  to 
brace  against  the  current,  and  was  washed  off  his 
feet  once  or  twice. 

I  handed  him  the  stakes,  and  he  built  them  across, 
one  above  the  other,  like  a  rail-fence,  the  ends  stuck 
among  the  stones  on  either  side.  Then  he  took 
smaller  sticks,  as  big  as  your  finger,  and  wove  them 
in  and  out  among  the  others  so  as  to  make  a  grat- 
ing. 

Now  we  made  a  final  collection  of  stones  and 
heaped  them  up  on  the  bank  ;  when  we  judged 
there  were  enough,  we  dumped  them  in  behind  the 
grating,  as  fast  as  we  could.  Soon  the  water  began 
to  rise  and  flow  over  on  each  side,  and  wash  the 
smaller  stones  off  the  top  of  the  dam  ;  so  we  stopped 
and  spent  some  time  in  hunting  for  the  biggest 
stones  we  could  get.  We  found  several  around 
on  land,  so  heavy  it  took  both  of  us  to  carry  them  ; 
but  when  he  had  laid  them  on  our  work,  and 
"  chinked  up  "  the  spaces  between  with  smaller  stuff, 
it  was  too  much  for  the  water  at  last. 

A  regular  torrent  rushed  through  the  grating, 
though,  so  we  were  afraid  it  would  part  from  its 
moorings;  but  it  didn't;  and  we  finished  filling  in 
behind  it,  bringing  the  heap  of  stones  up  level  with 
the  top  stake,  and  finished  the  construction  with 


202  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

our  two  biggest  stones,  square  flat  affairs  three  or 
four  inches  thick.  These  made  the  lip  over  which  the 
the  stream  would  pour,  for  the  sides  were  a  trifle 
higher ;  we  saw  that  the  water  would  yet  rise  more 
than  a  foot,  here  ;  and  when  it  had  ponded  back  half 
that  in  the  upper  channels,  we  would  be  all  right. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

So  now  we  trudged  back  to  await  results;  and  first 
thing,  here  came  the  oars  and  sail  floating  slowly 
down  to  meet  us  !  We  had  left  them  just  at  the 
water's  edge. 

We  fished  them  out;  I  took  the  oars  and  Joe  the 
sail; — of  course  we  had  to  laugh  at  the  thing;  but 
presently  Joe  said  it  was  no  joke  carrying  that  wet 
sail,  it  was  equal  to  so  much  lead;  so  he  took  one 
of  the  oars,  and  we  each  laid  hold  of  an  end  of  the 
mast  and  carried  it  between  us. 

We  passed  the  place  where  we  had  left  them,  and 
the  water  there  was  half-way  to  our  knees; — it  had 
hardly  been  over  our  feet  before.  Then  we  hur- 
ried up;  for  we  didn't  want  to  find  the  Triton  slid- 
ing back,  after  the  trouble  we'd  had  to  get  her  where 
she  was. 

The  water  in  the  channels  was  getting  lower  and 
flowing  swifter,  as  we  went  on;  and  before  we  came 
in  sight  of  the  boat  we  were  beyond  where  the 
effect  of  our  dam  was  felt,  as  yet,  so  we  slackened 
our  pace  ;   for  we   were  regularly  "  tuckered  "  out. 

When  we  reached  the  Triton,  we  let  the  things 
fall,  and  dropped  flat  on  the  sand,  in  the  shade. 
We  were  rather  glad  the  water  hadn't  risen  yet,  so 
we  had  an  excuse  for  waiting  and  doing  nothing; 

203 


204  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

and  we  had  worked  hard  enough  the  last  two  hours 

to  have  earned  a  little  rest. 

p. 

We  lay  spread  out  there  without  speaking  or 
moving  a  finger.  It  was  right  comfortable,  on  the 
soft,  dry  sand,  looking  up  at  the  spots  of  sky  shift- 
ing between  the  leaves,  only  it  was  rather  dazzling 
to  my  eyes,  and  I  shut  them  now  and  then,  to  give 
them  a  rest. 

In  a  minute  or  two  I  heard  Joe  muttering  some- 
thing.    "  What's  that  ?  "  asked  I. 

"Guess  you  dropped  off,  didn't  you?" 

"  No,  I'm  wide  awake.  But,  all  the  same,  I  don't 
feel  like  beinor  disturbed. " 

"  Hear  anything?"  he  went  on. 

"I  hearjj/<?#,  plain  enough." 

"  Nothing  else?" 

I  heard  the  little  insect  hum  and  scraping  there 
always  is,  but  he  couldn't  mean  that.;  and  there 
wasn't  wind  enough  to  make  a  noise  in  the  trees. 
I  thought  it  was  a  pretty  still  day.  Before  I 
spoke  again,  he  added,  "  Seems  to  me  its  uncom- 
mon still." 

Then  it  came  into  my  head  what  he  was  driving 
at.  He  meant  what  didrit  I  hear.  I  didn't  hear 
the  water  rippling  over  the  gravel. 

I  raised  up  and  looked  around;  the  stream  was 
crawling  at  a  tortoise  rate,  and  the  water  had  risen 
a  little,  but  the  Triton  wasn't  afloat  yet. 

"  The  dam's  doing  the  business! "    exulted  Joe. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  205 

11  It's  beginning  to  rise  here  now  !  It's  taken  rather 
longer  than  I  expected,  though — twenty  minutes 
since  we  got  here." 

I  concluded  that  I  must  have  "  dropped  off  "  after 
all. 

"  It's  close  on  a  quarter  of  two,"  he  went  on; 
"  you've  won  the  watch." 

"Sure  enough!"  said  I,  "hand  over!" 

"  Certainly!  "  he  replied  solemnly.  "  I  always  act 
up  to  my  contracts! "  and  he  delivered  the  precious 
machine.     Of  course  I  had  no  idea  of  keeping  it. 

"Now,  having — ah — fully  discharged  my — ah— 
obligations,  I  would  respectfully  intimate  that  I  have 
under  consideration — to — ah — the  purchasing  of  the 
same." 

"Ah,  indeed!" 

"And  if  you're  open  to  an  offer,  I  would  be  happy 
to— ah " 

"  Of  course  ;  anything  in  reason  ! " 

"To  enter  on  negations  —  negotiations,  I  should 
say." 

"All  right  —  only  don't  drive  too  hard  a  bar- 
gain." 

"  I  hereby  offer  the  sum  of  one  cent,  cash 
down " 

"  Gracious  !  take  it,  and  my  blessing  !  I'd  no  idea 
you  valued  it  so  highly  !  But  'tisn't  business-like  to 
make  such  a  big  offer,  the  first  time.  If  you  could 
be — ah  —  prevailed  on  to  exchange  this  truly  muni- 


2o6 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


hcent  sum  for  a  rectangle  of  your  sticking-plaster, 

to  apply  to  where  I've  barked  this  knuckle "  and, 

with  his  gracious  assent,  this  momentous  matter  was 
settled. 

Our  boat  was  afloat 
now,  except  where 
one  cobble-stone 
touched  her  amid- 
ship;  but  we  walked 
ahead,  and  found  the 
maze  of  channels  took 
up  so  much  water  that 
it  wasn't  best  to  go  on 
quite  yet.  When  we 
got  back  she  was 
floating  clear;  but  we 
had  taken  care  to  put 
the  anchor  over,  so 
she  didn't  drift. 

Joe  picked  up  a 
couple  of  stones,  and 
tried  throwing  them 
up  from  one  hand, 
first  one  and  then  the 
other,  keeping  one  in 
the  air  all  the  time ; 
and  he  could  do  it 
pretty  well ;  —  but  when  he  tried  it  with  three,  he 
got  muddled.     George  Myers  could  keep  it  up  with 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  207 

two  from  each  hand,  at  the  same  time,  and  three 
with  his  left  hand  alone  ; — but  then  he  was  the 
head  juggler  among  the  boys  in  everything;  he 
could  keep  a  chair  balanced  on  his  chin  for  two 
minutes. 

At  last  we  were  off !  pulling  our  boat  through 
the  winding  channels,  which  were  so  hopeless-look- 
ing a  little  while  before,  and  not  often  did  she 
scrape;  —  and  weren't  we  glad  when  we  came  to 
where  all  met,  and  we  could  embark  once  more  !  Our 
dam  hadn't  got  through  serving  us  yet ;  for  it  slack- 
ened the  current,  so  we  could  make  better  headway. 
We  hoped  it  would  last  till  we  came  back  ;  at  any 
rate  it  wasn't  likely  it  would  crumble  away  enough 
to  keep  us  long  repairing  it. 

As  we  moved  up,  the  current  told  against  us  more 
and  more ;  at  last  we  gave  over  rowing,  and  Joe 
pushed  astern,  while  I  stood  in  the  bow. 

"Hold  on!"  I  said,  suddenly,  and  brought  her 
nose  to  the  bank. 

"What's  the  matter?" 

"See  that  frog  !  there  on  the  sand,  at  the  edge 
of  the  water !  " 

"  My  stars  !  what  a  whopper !  regular  old  bull, 
isn't  he?" 

"  Now  just  hold  her  here,  till  I  catch  him ! " 

"Till  he  dives— all  right!" 

So  I  crept  out  and  stole  along  the  bank ;  I  really 
didn't  expect  to  catch  him,  but  I  did  !     Whether  he 


2o8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

was  asleep,  or  hadn't  ever  seen  human  beings,  and 
wasn't  afraid — he  didn't  stir  any  more  than  a  stone, 
till  I  fairly  grabbed  him.  Then  he  gave  a  wiggle, 
and  his  hind-legs  slipped  through,  but  his  feet 
stuck,  they  were  so  big  !  till  I  got  him  secure  with 
my  other  hand. 

He  was  as  heavy  as  a  kitten,  and  as  large ;  I'd 
never  seen  anything  like  it,  neither  had  Joe.  He 
didn't  struggle  much  while  we  looked  him  over;  he 
might  have  got  away  if  he'd  tried,  for  we  handled 
him  gently.  Such  broad  webs  on  his  feet !  he  must 
have  been  able  to  swim  like  a  streak. 

Joe  said  the  hind-legs  were  as  good  as  chicken. 
I  knew  they  were  sold  in  the  city  markets  ;  but  I 
didn't  want  to  harm  the  big,  harmless  chap,  so  we 
sat  him  on  the  thwart  all  ready  to  jump,  and  let  go  ; 
off  he  went,  and  plunged  out  of  sight  five  or  six 
feet  away.  It  didn't  seem  much  of  a  jump  for  a 
frog  of  his  size  ;  Joe  said  he  was  old  and  rheumatic, 
may  be. 

Not  long  after  this  we  came  to  where  a  stream 
flowed  in.  It  wasn't  a  "  fork,"  for  the  main  stream 
went  right  ahead,  and  this  joined  at  right  angles. 
A  pretty  little  brook,  this  was ;  coming  down  a 
long  slope  at  the  right ;  there  were  tiny  falls  in  it 
every  few  feet,  where  it  rippled  down  among  stones 
and  the  big  roots  of  trees  that  stretched  in  ;  we 
could  see  it  gleaming  here  and  there  away  up  to 
the  woods  on  the  ridge. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  209 

If  it  came  from  a  spring  up  there,  it  must  have 
been  a  good  sized  one;  but  we'd  stopped  so  long  on 
that  gravelly  place,  we  didn't  want  to  take  the  time 
to  look  for  it.  On  tasting  the  water  we  made  up 
our  minds  it  was  better  than  what  we  were  floating 
on;  so  we  took  our  lilies  from  the  jug,  where  we'd 
kept  them  all  this  time,  and  arranged  them  in  a  tin 
cup;  then  we  filled  the  jug  from  the  brook.  Joe 
untied  the  cork  from  his  line,  and  screwed  it  in 
tight;  our  fishing  poles  we  had  thrown  away  soon 
after  leaving  the  paper-mill,  as  they  cluttered  the 
boat,  and  we  could  cut  others  any  time. 

Big  clouds  were  drifting  over  the  sky,  and  hid 
the  sun  considerable  of  the  time;  we  were  glad  of 
that,  for  it  was  hot  work  fighting  up  against  the 
current, — which  was  running  more  rapidly  than 
ever, —  and  slow  work,  too;  it  was  well  toward 
three  o'clock  when  we  reached  Glenn's  Pond. 

First,  another  little  rivulet  came  slipping  in,  then 
pretty  soon  we  heard  the  rush  of  water  ahead. 
The  land  rose  steeply  on  our  right,  to  more  than 
twice  as  high  as  our  heads,  making  a  grassy  ridge, 
with  trees  growing  thickly  along  the  top.  They 
were  thick  on  the  other  side,  too,  so  we  couldn't 
see  ahead,  though  the  noise  of  the  fall  was  so  loud 
we  knew  it  must  be  close  by — and  the  water  was 
foamy,  too. 

In  another  minute  we  were  beyond  the  trees 
with  the  dam  right  in  front,  and  quite  a  big  sheet 
H 


2io  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

of  water  pouring  over  it,  making  a  handsome  fall; 
there  was  a  bridge  running  across  above  it,  but 
never  a  sign  of  a  mill ! 

We  brought  her  bow  ashore,  and  hastened  up, 
and  there  lay  the  pond  smooth  and  bright  before 
us,  with  woods  around  most  of  it;  and  to  our  right 
was  the  mill — the  ridge  had  hidden  it  from  us 
while  we  were  coming  up. 

It  was  a  queer  looking  affair  for  a  mill,  three 
stories  high,  with  a  sort  of  balcony  or  piazza  across 
the  end,  at  the  top  story,  and  the  roof  propped 
out  over  it.  At  the  other  end,  the  building  backed 
against  the  ridge  which  held  in  the  pond,  and  you 
could  walk  right  into  the  upper  story.  Little  dor- 
mer windows  with  railings  stood  out  on  the  roof  on 
each  side. 

A  trough  came  out  of  the  bank,  and  carried  the 
water  to  the  top  of  the  wheel,  which  wasn't  turning, 
though  a  little  was  running  through;  it  must  have 
been  leakage.  It  dropped  through  into  another 
trough,  from  which  it  ran  into  a  channel  that  led  off 
through  the  grass;  and  now  we  knew  where  that 
rivulet  came  from  which  we  had  seen  just  before. 

The  upper  part  was  fitted  up  as  a  dwelling-house, 
that  was  easy  to  see;  there  were  curtains  at  the 
windows  and  we  got  glimpses  of  furniture  inside; 
but  nobody  seemed  to  be  around.  We  knocked, 
and  then  again;  and  an  old  lady  came  to  the  door, 
who   eyed   us  rather  sharply  at  first;  but  when  we 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  213 

began  to  talk,  and  told  her  we'd  like  help  to 
get  our  boat  into  the  pond,  she  was  pleasant 
enough. 

She  said  we'd  find  Mr.  Odell  in  the  lower  story, 
if  we'd  go  around  to  the  other  end.  We  thanked 
her,  and  started;  but  when  we  had  gone  a  few  steps 
she  called  to  us  that  there  he  was,  coming  up  the 
road.      So  we  turned,  and  went  to  meet  him. 

He  was  a  heavily-built  man,  with  spectacles  and 
a  good-natured  look;  had  on  a  blue  shirt  and  white 
overalls,  and  an  old  felt  hat;  his  face  was  fringed 
with  gray  hair  all  around. 

He  stepped  up  to  the  bridge  over  the  dam,  and 
looked  down  at  our  boat. 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  ever  got  her  up  as  far  as 
this,"  he  observed.  "Came  by  the  stream,  didn't 
ye  ? 

"Well,  yes!"  answered  Joe,  with  a  smile,  "she 
doesn't  row  easy  on  dry  land!" 

"  No  ;  but  I  thought  you  might  have  fetched  her 
across  on  a  cart.  Didn't  you  find  a  place  below 
here  that  wasn't  much  better  than  dry  land  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "we  had  a  hard  time  of  it  hauling 
her  through  there ;  but  we  unloaded  her,  and  she 
doesn't  draw  much  water,  you  see." 

I  didn't  know  whether  it  might  be  best  to  say 
anything  about  our  dam  ;  perhaps  he  felt  as  though 
he  owned  all  the  rights  of  that  sort,  thereabouts. 
But  Joe  took  it  on  himself  to  out  with  the  whole 


214  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

thing, —  and  the  idea  seemed  to  strike  his  fancy  ;  he 
took  much  more  interest  in  us  after  he  heard  that. 

"■•Want  to  fish  up  in  here?     I  can't  catch  much." 

"No;  we  want  to  see  how  far  we  can  go  up  with 
a  boat." 

He  feared  we  wouldn't  find  it  "very  good  sailin'," 
and  wanted  to  know  how  far  we  had  come. 

"  Well,  well !  Well,  well !  "  he  said,  when  we  told 
him.  He'd  been  there  fifteen  years,  and  had  never 
known  a  boat  to  come  there  from  tide-water  before. 
This  was  pleasant  for  us  explorers  to  hear ;  but  we 
were  in  a  hurry  to  get  on,  and  again  asked  if  he 
knew  of  any  one  near  by  who  would  help  with  the 
boat.  We  couldn't  expect  an  old  man  like  him  to 
tackle  such  a  job,  that  hot  day;  besides  it  took  four 
to  carry  her,  by  our  way  of  looping  ropes. 

But  he  told  us  to  come  along  with  him  to  the 
basement  of  the  mill,  where  we  found  three  good- 
sized  wooden  rollers.  So  the  Triton  was  to  travel 
in  still  another  way. 

Each  of  us  carried  one  to  where  the  boat  lay ; 
and  soon  she  was  moving  slowly  and  surely  along, 
with  Mr.  Odell  pushing  behind,  Joe  pulling  in  front, 
and  I  taking  the  rollers  from  the  rear,  and  laying 
them  in  place  ahead.  This  was  where  the  real  work 
came  in  ;  and  I  was  glad  when  we  halted,  where  the 
meadow,  sloping  up,  met  the  road  from  the  bridge 
at  a  "bar-way."  In  working  her  along  the  road, 
Joe  took  the  rollers  and  I  the  painter. 


OUR  WEEK  J  FLOAT.  213 

When  the  Triton  was  launched  again,  and  we  had 
carried  the  rollers  back,  he  made  us  come  up  into 
the  house  and  have  some  milk  and  doughnuts,  while 
he  gave  his  wife  an  account  of  what  we  had  told 
him.  She  brought  out  some  white  bread  and  honey; 
and  while  we  were  eating  it  she  packed  a  paper  bag 
with  doughnuts  and  cheese  for  us  to  take  along, 
and  the  thanks  we  returned  were  sincere. 

"  I  suppose  we'll  see  you  again  before  long," 
said  he,  as  we  embarked,  "for  you'll  have  to  come 
back  the  same  way." 

"Yes;  and  I'm  sorry  we'll  have  to  trouble  you 
again  so  soon!" 

"  No  trouble  ;   not  a  bit !"  he  answered,  heartily. 

"They're  the  right  sort  !"  asserted  Joe,  as  we 
rowed  away. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

We  didn't  stop  here  to  try  for  fish.  We'd  fished 
in  two  ponds,  already,  since  we  set  out  that  morn- 
ing, and  we  wanted  to  get  on ;  this  was  the  after- 
noon of  our  third  day,  and  we  were  still  on  navigable 
waters. 

The  boys  at  the  paper-mill  had  told  us  this  pond 
was  longer  than  the  one  there  ;  but  it  seemed  to  us 
about  the  same  size, —  a  little  smaller,  if  anything. 
It  didn't  take  five  minutes  to  get  to  the  end,  where 
a  wooded  point  came  down  from  the  left,  matching 
the  woods  across  so  you  could  hardly  see  where  the 
the  stream  came  in,  till  you  were  nearly  there. 

But  when  we  had  entered  it,  making  a  short 
turn  to  the  left  around  the  point,  we  found  it  was 
wide, —  three  boat-lengths  at  least. 

We  found  more, —  it  wasn't  any  stream  at  all! 
It  was  where  the  pond  narrowed  for  a  few  rods  ; 
then  it  opened  out  into  twice  as  long  a  stretch  as 
the  first.  This  was  a  lovely  pond  ;  the  woods  went 
partway,  then  gave  place  to  meadows,  with  trees 
growing  along  the  fences,  and  scattered  about; 
near  the  farther  end  was  a  big  farm-house,  the  main 
part  white,  with  an  "L"  painted  red,  with  white 
trimmings.  There  were  two  barns  ;  the  larger  had 
a  cupola,  which  in  turn  was  crowned  by  a  windmill. 

216 


O  UR  WEEK  A  FLO  A  T,  217 

Between  the  barns  was  a  cart-shed,  one  end  of  which 
was  inclosed  for  a  hen-house  and  showed  plenty  of 
window-sash. 

When  we  came  to  the  inlet  where  the  stream 
flowed  into  the  pond,  there  was  a  lane  or  cart-path 
leading  down  from  the  barns,  and  fording  right 
across  ;  the  water  wasn't  more  than  a  foot  deep,  at 
that  place.  Beside  it,  a  little  rill  came  sparkling- 
down. 

Just  ahead  a  log  was  lying  across,  hewn  flat  on 
top,  to  serve  as  a  foot-bridge.  We  thought  maybe 
we  could  jam  the  Triton  through  under  this  ;  so  we 
both  stood  on  the  gunwale  at  each  side  of  the  bow, 
resting  our  hands  on  the  log,  to  keep  our  balance, 
and  so  we  got  the  bow  under,  the  stern  rising  a  lit- 
tle, however,  to  make  up.  We  stepped  backward 
by  degrees  as  we  urged  her  under,  with  our  feet  on 
the  edge  ;  but  after  grinding  unwillingly  about  four 
feet,  she  came  to  a  dead  halt.  The  farther  she 
went,  the  wider  she  was  where  the  log  held  her 
down,  and  the  harder  she  pressed  up  against  it. 

We  thought,  of  course,  of  hauling  her  on  shore 
and  around  it ;  but  we  would  have  to  unload  her, 
and  we  preferred  to  manage  it  with  less  trouble,  if 
we  could.  The  next  idea  was  to  lift  one  end  of  the 
log ;  Joe  was  the  stoutest,  so  I  got  the  painter 
under,  and  carried  it  up  the  bank,  ready  to  haul 
when  he  raised  the  log.  But  he  could  scarcely  stir 
it ;  and  no  wonder,  for  it  was  as  much  as  fifteen  feet 
long. 


?i8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

We  both  tried  ;  and  by  tugging  savagely  we  did 
pull  it  up  a  few  inches, — when  the  Triton  slipped 
from  under  and  began  drifting  backward,  so  we  let 
drop  and  grabbed  the  painter.  The  sweat  was 
dripping  from  both  our  faces. 

"If  there  was  only  somebody  to  haul  her  along 
while  we  lifted !"  exclaimed  Joe.  "  I'll  tell  you — 
we  might  drive  a  stake  ahead  and  lash  our  pulley 
to  it,  with  the  painter  rove  through  ;  then  may  be 
I  could  gather  it  in  with  my  toes,  while  we  lifted." 

I  had  to  laugh  at  that,  and  so  did  he. 

"You're  too  ingenious!"  I  said,  "you'd  have  to 
be  more  of  a  monkey  than  you  are,  to  do  that. 
What  we  want  to  do  is,  to  set  up  a  block  or  some- 
thing to  shift  the  log  on  ;  then  we  can  take  our 
time  about  getting  her  through  ?" 

Before  we  could  turn  to  look  for  something  of  the 
sort,  somebody  behind  us  hailed,  "  What  you  fellers 
tryin'  to  do  ? — want  to  get  your  boat  through?" 

'Twas  a  tall  young  chap  who  looked  as  though 
he  might  be  seventeen  years  old  ;  he  had  on  a  blue- 
and-white  checked  shirt  and  "pepper-and-salt" 
trowsers,  and  wore  a  brown  straw  hat. 

"That's  just  what  we'd  like!"  says  Joe.  "If 
you'll  help  me  lift  this,  you'll  do  us  quite  a  favor." 

He  stepped  up  without  a  word  more ;  and  they 
picked  it  right  up  and  held  it,  while  I  hastily  pulled 
the  Triton  to  the  upper  side.  We  could  see  he  was 
a  stout  fellow,  and  no  mistake  ;  he  didn't  seem  to 
mind  it  at  all, 


O  UR  WEEK  A  EL  OA  T.  2 19 

."  I  used  to  have  a  boat  in  this  pond,"  he  observed. 
"  Last  winter  I  kept  her  out  too  long',  and  she  froze 
in  ;  and  when  the  thaw  came  the  ice  broke  up  in  the 
night,  and  she  parted  her  rope  and  slipped  over  the 
dam  ; —  that  was  the  last  of  her.  You  fellows  must 
have  had  a  hot  pull  of  it  to  get  your  boat  up  from 
down  there  ! " 

We  saw  a  younger  boy  trotting  down  the  lane  ; 
he  slowed  into  a  walk  as  he  saw  we  were  not  likely 
to  get  away  before  he  came  up. 

"  So  we  did  ;  Mr.  Odell  was  good  enough  to  help 
us  around,  or  we  could  hardly  have  managed  it." 

"  How  far've  you  come, —  from  the  paper-mill  ?" 

"  We've  been  there  to-day  ;  but  this  morning  we 
were  at  Harlow's  Pond." 

"  Say  !  "  put  in  the  younger,  "  d'you  know  Steve 
McLean  !  he's  in  the  spinnin'  room." 

"  No  ;  we're  not  much  acquainted  'round  there  : 
we  belong  down  below  that  region,"  said  I. 

"We're  from  Pierhaven,"  finished  Joe,  to  cut 
short  the  agony. 

"Hail  Columby!"  exclaimed  the  younger  boy. 
"  Where' d  you  strike  the  river?" 

"We  started  on  it  from  there,  day  before  yester- 
day." 

"You  don't  say  !"  commented  the  older,  looking 
at  our  craft  with  interest. 

"  My  !  does  Pequonset  River  go  down  to  Pier- 
haven?  "  cried  the  other, 


220  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"  'Course  it  does  !  why,  Ben,  I  thought  ye  knowed 
that!     So  you've  come  all  the  way  by  water  !" 

"All 'except  where  the  mills  blocked  the  way. 
Has'nt  it  been  done  before?" 

"  Never,  as  I  ever  heard  on  ;  'taint  much  of  a 
place  for  cruisin',  up  this  way.  Where're  you 
bound, —  up  to  Hollisville?" 

"  We'd  like  to  get  there,  if  we  can." 

"Don't  believe  it  can  be  done, —  not  this  way. 
There's  a  fork  about  a  mile  above,  where  Beames' 
Brook  comes  in  ;  and  above  that  it  comes  tumbling 
down  among  rocks  ;  and  there's  no  boat  that  ever  I 
see  could  get  along  in  that  place !  " 

"There's  where  you're  right,  Tom!" 

"  Perhaps  we  could  get  the  boat  carried  around, 
same  as  at  the  mill-dams." 

"  Well,  I  don't  believe  you'd  find  ten  rods  together 
that'd  float  you,  from  there  on.  Still,  I  never  tried 
it.  But  if  you  want  to  get  to  Hollisville, —  I'm 
just  going  to  catch  old  Dick,  and  drive  over,  to  get 
the  Weekly  Banner  and  some  store-truck  ;  and  I'll 
take  you  there  and  back,  if  you  like;  —  just  lief's 
not.     Your  boat'llbe  all  right,  here." 

"  Suppose  we  do! "  I  said  to  Joe. 

"All  right!"  said  he,  "  and  much  obliged  to  you!" 

So  we  all  crossed  the  log,  and  walked  toward  a 
"bar-way"  a  short  distance  to  the  left. 

"Then  this  is  Pequonset  River,  is  it?"  said  I. 

"  'Course  'tis!  "  Ben  burst  out.    "  What  d'you  think 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  221 

it  was?    H'aint  you  said    you've  been   travelin'  on 
it  three  days  ? " 

"  Don't  be  sassy,  Ben !  I  reckon  you  call  it 
something  else,  down  there." 

"  Why,  yes, — we  call  it  Pierhaven  River.  But  it's 
something  very  different,  there, — salt  water  ;  and 
wide, — twice  as  wide  as  this  pond." 

Ben  made  a  face  intended  to  signify  that  I  was 
"  piling  it  on,"  but  his  brother  didn't  see  him. 

"  I  know  'taint  much  of  a  river,  to  see  now,"  said 
Tom,  "and  Pequonset  Brook  would  sound  fitter; 
but  sometimes, — in  the  spring,  when  the  snow 
melts, — it  looks  pretty  respectable." 

"You  bet!"  cried  Ben.  "Where  we've  just  been 
across,  I've  seen  it  four  times  as  wide  as  the  pond!" 

So  our  story  was  overmatched ;  but  Tom  added, 
"  Four  times  as  wide  as  the  narrow  part,  he  means." 

Here  we  were,  at  the  bars  ;  and  there  was  old 
Dick,  looking  at  us.  Joe  and  I  spread  out  to  help 
head  him  off  ;  but  Tom  caught  him  without  any 
trouble  ;  perhaps  he  was  tired  of  loafing  and  wanted 
a  change.  As  we  walked  along  back  with  Ben  lead- 
ing the  old  nag,  Tom  said,  "  I  don't  want  you  to 
think  I'm  pryin',  but  it  seems  kind  o'queer  for  you 
to  take  this  roundabout  fashion  of  getting  up  here. 
You  know  anybody  in  Hollisville  ?" 

"  No,"  I  said,  "  we  don't  know  a  soul  anywhere 
about  here.  We  set  out  to  follow  this  river  up  just 
for  the  fun  of  it,  to  see  where  we'd  come  out." 


222  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

"  D'you  make  a  bet  you'd  run  up  to  Hollisville?" 
asked  Ben. 

''  No,  indeed,  nothing  of  the  sort; — we  wanted  to 
find  how  things  looked  along  the  river,  and  have 
the  fun  of  camping  out,  besides.  When  it  won't 
carry  our  boat  any  longer,  we'll  turn  back,  and  not 
before." 

"I  see!"  said  Tom,  "  you've  been  kinder explorin 
this  'ere  stream!" 

"That's  it,  exactly." 

"  Well,  how've  you  made  out? — got  fun  enough 
to  pay,  so  far?" 

"  Yes,  we've  liked  it  first-rate  ;  though  we've  had 
harder  work  to-day,  part  of  the  time,  than  we'd  like 
to  do  straight  along." 

"  Yes  ;  I  reckon  you  must  have  had  a  tough  spell 
of  it  about  half  a  mile  below  here,  didn't  you  ?" 

Then  Joe  told  him  about  the  dam  we  made;  and 
he  thought  that  was  a  pretty  'cute  notion. 

"Weve-got  a  dam  up  here  a  little  ways "  be- 
gan Ben  ;  but  his  brother  put  in,  and  told  him  not 
to  mind  about  that,  now ;  we'd  come  to  it  in  good 
time. 

"  Nothing  that  we  can't  go  by,  is  it  ?" 

"  Huh  !  "  said  Ben,  "  if  you  got  over  Odell's " 

"  Yes  ;  but  we  didn't  know  but  you  might  object." 

4  Aw-w  no  !  we'll  help  you  over!" 

Old  Dick  splashed  across,  while  Ben  ran  over  the 
log,  and  caught  him  on  the  other  side.  As  we  went 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  223 

up  toward  the  barn,  a  line  of  dozen  geese  came 
marching-  past  us,  in  "  Indian  file,"  slow  and  import- 
ant, with  their  necks  stretched  straight  up  ;  and 
their  fretful  "kweu  kweu  ! "  kept  breaking  out  all 
alongf  the  row.  The  old  grander  had  a  bigf  nub  at 
the  base  of  his  bill ;  he  did  his  level  best  to  stretch 
up  to  our  height,  and  looked  at  us  out  of  his  eye 
mad  as  fury;  may  be  he  wasn't,  but  all  ganders  look 
so,  anyway.  Ben  shoved  his  hat  at  him;  then  he 
crooked  his  neck  and  jabbed  out  like  a  snake  ;  but 
he  failed  to  connect,  for  Ben  knew  him. 

In  the  barn-yard  was  a  trough,  with  water  run- 
ning into  it  at  one  end  out  of  a  lead  pipe,  which 
came  up  from  the  ground ;  there  was  a  notch  at  the 
other  end,  where  the  overflow  ran  out,  and  made 
the  rill  which  flowed  down  beside  the  lane.  Tom 
said  the  water  came  from  a  spring  on  the  hill,  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  off ;  it  was  brought  into  the  house, 
too. 

I  asked  if  it  ever  failed,  and  he  said,  never  quite  ; 
but  in  some  seasons,  when  the  brook  itself  was 
about  dried  up,  there  wouldn't  be  much  flow  from 
the  spring  ;  then  they  used  the  pond  water  for  every- 
thing but  drinking.  We  thought  it  a  little  queer 
that  they  should  take  the  trouble  to  have  that  trough, 
with  the  pond  so  near  ;  but  they  said  it  saved  driv- 
ing the  cows  down  and  waiting  for  them  to  drink, 
then  turning  them  back  into  the  yard. 

"We  mostly  pasture  our  cows  up  that  way," — 


224  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

pointing-  northwest  beyond  the  house, — "and  every 
minute  counts,  when  you're  tired." 

When  they  had  harnessed  up,  Tom  went  in  and 
got  his  linen  coat,  while  we  helped  Ben  load  in 
some  sweet  corn,  melons  and  squashes.  We  climbed 
in,  and  Tom  gathered  up  the  reins  ;  he  wouldn't  let 
Ben  go  ;  said  there  were  too  many  things  to  bring 
back. 

This  was  rather  pleasant,  for  a  change,  jogging 
steadily  along  without  having  to  row,  shove,  or  tug 
at  a  rope ;  and  we  were  keeping  up  our  regular  ex- 
ploring, too,  for  we  would  see  the  stream  at  Hollis- 
ville  farther  than  we  could  get  with  the  boat,  if  we 
had  been  told  aright. 

After  about  half  an  hour,  in  which  time  we  passed 
only  two  houses,  old  Dick  took  his  own  time  in 
going  up  a  long,  steep  hill ;  soon  after  reaching  the 
top,  our  road  was  crossed  by  another,  which  was 
wider,  and  there  was  hardly  any  grass  between  the 
ruts.  Tom  turned  down  this, —  he  said  it  was  the 
Woodfield  'Pike,  and  we  were  'most  there.  There 
was  a  little  yellow-brown  school-house  just  beyond 
the  corner,  with  weeds  and  thin  grass  springing  up 
all  over  the  trampled  space  around  it, —  then  we 
saw  a  square,  white  cupola  over  the  trees  at  the 
left,  and  Tom  said  that  was  the  Baptist  Church. 

Three  or  four  houses  were  now  in  sight,  showing 
more  or  less  ;  and  here  was  a  brook  running  under 
the  road,  through  a  narrow  stone  tunnel  which  was 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT  22$ 

built  part  way  across,  leaving  room  on  the  left 
between  it  and  the  fence  for  teams  to  drive  down 
through  where  the  water  spread  out  in  a  shallow 
pool,  so  the  horses  could  drink. 

We  wanted  to  know  if  that  was  Pequonset  River ; 
and  Tom  said,  "  No,"  that  amounted  to  something 
more  than  this  ;■ — this  was  "  Beames'  Brook." 

The  road  curved  to  the  right,  and — we  were  at 
Hollisville.  We  passed  the  blacksmith's  shop ;  a 
hammer  was  ringing  from  inside,  where  we  saw 
a  horse  tethered;  and  a  few  old  broken-down  carts 
and  wagons  were  standing  around  outside.  The 
houses  were  mostly  pleasant  looking,  with  plenty 
of  trees  and  vines,  and  flowers  growing  in  front ; 
the  church,  though,  seemed  dreadfully  bare,  white 
and  dreary,  with  its  two  big  doors  shut  up  ;  there 
was  a  long  carriage  shed  behind.  We  could  see 
the  little  steeple  of  the  "Orthodox"  Church, some 
ways  ahead. 

Presently  Tom  drew  up  at  the  store,  which  had  a 
sort  of  piazza  roof  coming  out  in  front,  held  up  by 
posts  planted  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  sidewalk. 
Old  Dick  was  hitched  to  a  ring  in  one  of  these  ;  and 
then  we  helped  carry  in  the  "  garden  truck." 

It  was  a  pretty  good-sized  store  ;  and  it  had  to  be 
to  hold  the  things.  We  saw  axes,  ox-yokes,  slates, 
shoes,  calico,  ink,  sugar,  flour,  tinware,  tea,  and 
soothing-syrup — these  just  show  the  ground  they 
laid  themselves  out  to  cover.     The  man  behind  the 

15 


U6  0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

counter  was  quite  a  bright-looking  young  fellow.— 
and  he  must  have  had  a  good  memory,  anyway,  to 
kee£  the  run  of  the  prices.  One  corner  of  the  place 
was  shut  off  with  sash  partitions  for  the  postoffice, 
two  men  were  sitting  in  there  talking. 

Tom  told  of  the  things  he  wanted ;  and  he  said 
to  us  that  while  they  were  being  weighed  out  he 
was  ofoinQf  to  see  a  fellow  who  lived  a  little  farther 
along  ;  and  if  we  cared  to  come  part  way  with  him, 
he  would  show  us  the  river. 

In  a  minute  or  two  we  came  to  where  it  went 
under  the  street,  and  he  walked  on,  leaving  us  lean- 
ing over  the  railing.  It  would  have  just  about 
floated  the  Triton  here,  except  under  the  bridge  ; 
that  was  too  narrow  for  her.  We  could  see  up  for 
quite  a  stretch;  but  on  the  down  side  of  the  street 
it  was  in  sight  for  only  a  few  yards,  and  then  turned 
the  corner  of  a  garden.  There  wasn't  much  of  a 
current  ;  a  few  water-spiders  were  drifting  down  on 
it  ;  when  they  were  nearly  under  the  bridge  they'd 
give  two  or  three  skips  up-stream,  and  then  float 
down  again.  We  watched  them,  leaning  on  the 
rail. 

"Well,"  said  Joe  at  last,  "it  seems  likely  that 
this  is  our  farthest.  Let's  see  what  time  it  is  ;  — 
quarter  to  four,  Wednesday.  Seems  as  if  we'd  been 
longer  than  that !  " 

"  Doesn't  it !  Well,  now  we'll  take  a  farewell  look." 

"  Let's  take  it  from  that  next  bend.   We  can  keep 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  227 

one  eye  on  the  bridge  here,  and  see  when   Tom 
goes  by." 

So  we  got  over  the  fence,  and  walked  to  where  the 
course  changed,  and  we  could  see  it  here  and  there, 
beyond,  for  some  distance  through  the  fields.  At 
this  point  it  grew  shallower,  and  the  grade  began 
to  slope  ;  it  came  rippling  and  gurgling  down,  not 
more  than  a  yard  wide,  in  places;  —  it  was  plain 
that  the  "  head  of  navigation,"  would  be  reached 
here,  if  not  before. 

"  This  water's  troino-  down  to  Pierhaven." 
"  Yes  ;  but  precious  little  it'll  count  for,  there.    I 
suppose  it  may  help  to  make  a  little  stronger  cur- 
rent in  the  ebb-tide." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

We  sauntered  back  to  the  store,  feeling  that  our 
expedition  had  reached  its  limit, —  in  one  way  ;  still, 
we  agreed  to  carry  the  Ti'iton  as  far  as  the  stream 
would  let  us,  and  see  all  we  could  "  from  the  inside," 
as  Joe  expressed  it. 

Old  Dick,  moored  to  the  post,  was  still  nodding 
outside;  Tom  hadn't  got  back  yet.  We  bought 
three  pounds  of  hard-tack,  some  chocolate,  and  gin- 
ger-snaps. Joe  compared  his  watch  with  the  clock, 
by  which  it  was  about  ten  minutes  slow  ;  if  this  was 
the  standard,  my  dial  was  three  minutes  slow, —  in- 
stead of  thirteen  minutes  fast,  as  it  was  by  the  clock 
he  had  seen  in  the  morning.  I  told  him  he'd  bet- 
ter stick  to  the  sun-dial,  and  never  mind  these  blun- 
dering clocks. 

Then  I  took  it  into  my  head  to  write  a  letter 
home,  and  bought  a  sheet  of  paper  and  an  envelope. 
Joe  followed  suit,  and  we  scribbled  away  for  three  or 
four  minutes  ;  then  Tom  appeared,  so  we  brought 
our  messages  to  a  sudden  close.  An  old  man  took 
them,  and  put  on  the  stamps,  then  printed  the  post- 
mark ;  he  took  his  time  about  it, —  no  slap-slap 
business  such  as  you  see  in  big  postoffices. 

He  told  us  that  the  mail  went  every  morning.    We 

asked  where,  and  he  said  "to  Brompton." 

228 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  229 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  we'd  have  saved  time  by 
taking-  them  ourselves  !"  I  said,  when  we  were  out 
of  hearing. 

"  Yes;  I'd  laugh  if  we  got  home  first.  Like  as 
not  they'll  go  as  far  as  Boston  before  they  turn  this 
way  again." 

We  helped  Tom  load  his  molasses,  kerosene,  etc., 
and  then  he  started  alone  and  took  us  through  the 
rest  of  the  place  and  a  little  beyond,  to  where  a 
road  came  in  on  the  left.  We  followed  this,  and 
it  turned  out  to  be  the  one  on  which  Tom  lived  ;  as 
we  saw  when  it  crossed  the  turnpike,  near  the  school- 
house. 

Before  that,  we  met  the  "river"  again,  still  fur- 
ther up,  where  it  crossed  the  road  in  a  patch  of 
woods;  and  it  didn't  look  much  like  voyaging.  It 
was  full  of  mossy  stones,  among  which  it  brawled 
and  tumbled,  with  big  rocks  crowding  in  ;  we 
wouldn't  have  been  sure  what  it  was  if  Tom  hadn't 
told  us. 

"  You're  right !  "  I  admitted,  "  there's  no  getting 
beyond  Hollisville." 

"  Or  to  it,  in  your  boat ;  as  I  was  a-sayin',  its  just 
as  bad  below,  after  Beames'  Brook  makes  off." 

But  we  told  him  we  were  bound  to  see  it  through 
with  the  Triton,  as  far  as  we  could  make  her  go. 

As  we  came  near  the  house,  we  saw  a  little  church 
set  on  a  pole — steeple  and  all,  complete  ;  with 
windows  painted  on,  and  holes  at  the    doors  ;   it 


230 


O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T. 


looked  just  like  the  "  Orthodox"  Church  at  Hollis- 
ville.     Across  underneath  was  a  little  sign:  "Pews 
reet 

"Pretty    good!"    laughed  Joe,    "whose    work's 
that?" 

"  Well,  I  'spose  I  can  say  I  done  it:  —  Bob  Ward- 
ley,  that  I  went  to  see 
to-day,  marked  out  the 
letterin'.  There  was  a 
pair  of  blue-birds  in  it 
this  spring  ;  there  has 
been  for  three  years 
back,  ever  since  I  put 
it  up, — and  I  think  it's 
the  same  pair." 

"You  must  be  pret- 
ty handy  with  tools." 

"O,  middlin'.  I'll 
show  you  something 
else,  before  you  go." 

Ben  came  out  to 
unharness,  and  I  car- 
ried our  purchases 
down  to  the  boat. 
"Well,  old  craft," 
thought  I,  "you're  pretty  near  the'  end,  now."  I 
took  the  jug  up  to  the  barn,  to  fill  it  from  the  pipe, 
and  it  turned  out  that  Ben  had  told  his  mother 
about  our  expedition,  and  they  had  set  out  a  lunch 
for  us. 


'TWAS  FULL  OF  MOSSY  STONES,  WITH  BIG  ROCKS  CROWDING  IN.        *3» 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  233 

We  felt  a  little  uneasy  about  their  putting  them- 
selves to  that  trouble  for  a  pair  of  strange  boys,  and 
hinted  something  of  the  sort  ;  but  Tom  said 
'twas  the  first  boat  that  had  come  up  there  from 
salt  water,  and  perhaps  'twould  be  the  last ;  any- 
way, he  didn't  want  explorers  to  carry  back  a  bad 
opinion  of  people  in  those  parts. 

He  showed  us  to  the  sink,  so  we  could  wash  our 
hands  ;  and  there,  instead  of  a  pump,  was  a  lead 
pipe  sticking  out  of  the  wall,  with  a  wooden  stop- 
ple ; —  which  he  pulled  out,  and  the  water  poured 
into  the  basin,  clear,  cool  spring-water.  If  they 
should  forget  and  leave  the  stopple  out  for  half  a 
day,  there  was  no  harm  done  ;  they  never  saw  any 
water-bills. 

When  we  finished  I  corked  it  up  ;  but  as  I  passed 
the  end  of  the  sink,  out  popped  the  plug,  and  took 
me  in  the  face,  while  the  stream  spouted  'most  a 
yard  !  —  then  it  suddenly  slackened  to  its  usual  rate. 

I  wondered  how  often  their  water-supply  was  lia- 
ble to  such  explosions  ;  but  Tom  exclaimed,  "  Drat 
that  Ben  !  that's  one  of  his  tricks  !  he  was  watch- 
ing at  the  trough, — out  in  the  barn-yard  ;  and  when 
he  saw  it  run  harder  there,  he  knew  we'd  stopped  it 
up  here ;  then  he  just  clapped  his  hand  over  the 
spout !     I've  a  mind  to  hold  his  head  under  it ! " 

Well,  they  gave  us  a  lunch  which  we'll  always  be 
glad  to  remember  them  by, —  huckleberry  cakes,  corn 
and  beans,  apple  and  huckleberry  pie,  muskmelon, 
and  plenty  of  milk.     Their  mother  was  a  real  nice 


234  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

woman,  and  we  were  glad  to  tell  her  all  she  asked 
about. 

We'd  been  wondering  where  Mr.  Holcomb 
(their  father)  was;  and  it  seemed  that  he'd  gone 
somewhere  that  afternoon  to  look  at  a  yoke  of  oxen 
he  thought  of  buying ;  and  he  took  the  best  horse, 
—  "or  I'd  had  you  back  here  earlier,"  declared 
Tom. 

"Tell  you,  he  can  travel /"  added  Ben. 

Mrs.  Holcomb  seemed  actually  afraid  we  wouldn't 
eat  enough  ;  but  we  thought  we  did  pretty  well ; 
especially  as  it  was  the  second  time  we'd  eaten 
since  noon.  She  wondered  we  didn't  catch  cold, 
sleeping  out  of  doors  all  night ;  and  wanted  us  to 
stay  with  them  till  the  next  day, —  and  so  did  the 
boys  ;  but  of  course  we  couldn't  listen  to  that.  If 
we  didn't  camp  out  every  night  we'd  lose  half  our 
trip ;  and  I  think  the  boys  saw  well  enough  how  it 
seemed  to  us; — though  Tom  said  he'd  bet  any- 
thing there'd  be  thunder-showers  that  nio-ht,  it  was 
so  sultry. 

When  we  started,  they  made  us  take  a  quart 
bottle  of  milk,  and  a  whole  huckleberry  pie  in  the 
pan  ;  and  said  we  could  leave  the  pan  on  our  way 
back  the  next  day.  We  were  really  ashamed  to 
accept  them  ;  but  we  couldn't  get  out  of  it  grace- 
fully,—  and  I  don't  know  as  we  wanted  to. 

We  all  moved  down  to  the  boat,  for  Mrs.  Hol- 
comb wanted  to  see  it ;  and  Tom  carried  a  churn  — 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  235 

a  round  one  that  went  with  a  crank, —  and  loaded 
it  aboard.  We  were  astounded ;  but  before  we 
spoke,  he  laughed  and  said,  "  I  aint  going  to  give 
you  this,  but  I  thought  maybe  you'd  let  me  carry  it 
up  here  a  little  way,  on  your  boat." 

We  said  of  course  he  could,  and  welcome  ;  but 
we  wondered  why  he  should  care  to. 

Tom  and  Ben  wanted  to  get  aboard  and  send  the 
boat  up  as  far  as  their  dam  ;  so  they  began  to  shove 
with  their  oars,  one  on  each  side,  but  Ben  couldn't 
make  his  pushing  mate  with  his  brother's,  and  so 
they'd  kept  fetching  around  one  way  and  the  other. 
Then  Tom  told  him  to  hold  up,  and  let  him  go  it 
alone  ;  and  he  made  out  better. 

We  now  took  leave  of  Mrs.  Holcomb,  as  she 
wasn't  going  any  farther  ;  we  gave  her  our  pond- 
lilies,  which  were  still  safe  in  the  tin  cup,  and  wished 
there  were  more  of  them. 

Joe  called  to  Tom  that  we'd  take  him  in  tow  if  he 
got  tired,  but  he  said  there  was  no  danger  of  that, 
and  pushed  along  into  the  next  lot,  and  across  that 
into  the  one  beyond,  with  us  walking  abreast  on  the 
bank.  Then  we  saw  their  dam, —  and  a  water-wheel 
a  yard  high,  just  in  front  and  close  to  the  bank  ; 
there  was  a  trough  for  leading  tne  water  to  it,  which 
was  closed  by  a  little  sliding  gate. 

"  Is  this  some  of  your  work,  too  ?  "  I  asked. 

"Yes ;  you  know  I  said  I  was  going  to  show  you 
something  else." 


236  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"  Well,  it's  done  tip  top  !  goes  clear  ahead  of  the 
church.      Start  her  up,; — won't  you,  please?" 

"In  a  minute. 

On  the  same  same  axle  with  the  water-wheel  was 
a  solid  wheel  made  of  three  round  pieces  of  board 
fastened  together  ;  a  leather  belt  connected  this  with 
another  wheel  below,  less  than  half  as  large,  which 
had  a  strip  of  board  fixed  crank  fashion  on  its  axle. 
Tom  lifted  the  churn  on  to  a  little  platform,  and 
set  it  so  its  crank  went  through  a  hole  in  the  board- 
crank. 

Everything  was  plain  as  day,  now  ;  and  we 
looked  on  with  rapt  attention  while  we  lifted  the 
little  gate  part  way.  The  water  poured  into  the 
buckets,  and  the  wheel  began  to  turn  slowly;  the 
little  wheel  went  round  four  times  to  once  of  the  big 
one,  carrying  the  churn-crank  at  the  same  rate.  It 
was  just  splendid  ! 

Everything  was  finished  off  neatly,  and  painted 
dark-red  ;  the  dam  was  walled  up  close  and  even, 
and  perfectly  level  on  top. 

"  Let  'em  see  how  fast  she  can  go  ! "  said  Ben. 

His  brother  pulled  the  gate  clear  up  ;  and  the  big 
stream  filled  the  buckets  in  a  second;  the  wheel 
more  than  trebled  its  speed,  and  the  churn  joggled 
about  as  the  crank  flew  around  ;  Tom  said  that  was 
too  fast,  so  he  lowered  the  gate  till  the  rate  suited 
him. 

"  You  see  I  can  regulate  her  just  as  I  like !  " 


THE  WATER  PQURED  INTO  THE  BUCKETS,  AND  THE  WHEEL  BEGAN 

TO  TURN  SLOWLY.  237 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT  $39 

He  said  he'd  had  it  going  only  about  six  weeks. 
They  made  the  dam  early  in  June,  when  there  was 
a  dry  spell,  and  there  wasn't  as  much  water  as  now. 
"  You'd  never  got  up  here,  then,"  he  said.  The 
main  trouble  in  building  it  was  that  it  had  to  be  so 
long, —  'twas  ten  times  as  long  as  the  one  we  made, 
for  the  banks  didn't  slope  much  ;  still  they  chose 
the  best  place  they  could  find  on  the  farm.  It  took 
the  boys  two  weeks,  what  time  they  could  get ;  of 
course  laying  the  wall  so  ship-shape  took  some  time, 
and  then  they  filled  in  an  earth-bank  on  the  upper 
side,  besides  bracing  the  front  with  timber  in  several 
places. 

Then  it  was  quite  a  job  setting  up  the  wheel, — 
he'd  made  it  mostly  in  the  winter.  The  lengths  of 
heavy  scantling  which  held  it  up  were  planted  five 
feet  deep,  he  said  ;  'twould  take  a  pretty  fair  freshet 
to  wash  them  away  —  and  besides,  they  had  a  sluice- 
gate to  let  the  water  out,  when  it  come  flooding 
down  after  rains.  "  It's  worth  the  while,  though  ; 
for  all  'tisn't  every  time  that  we  can  fetch  the  churn 
along  in  a  boat.  She'll  bring  the  butter  in  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  while  we  have  the  fun  of  looking  on." 

We  didn't  wait  for  that,  as  it  was  close  on  five 
o'clock,  but  set  to  and  rigged  our  ropes  ;  and  the 
four  of  us  manned  them,  and  got  the  boat  up  into 
their  little  mill-pond.  They  thought  perhaps  we 
could  crowd  up  as  far  as  where  Beames'  Brook 
joined,  which  might  be  a  couple  of  miles,   by  the 


240  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

stream ;  'twas  a  little   beyond  the  old    "  Galloway 
place." 

"  If  you  must  camp  out,  I  s'pose  you  must ;  we'U 
be  looking  for  you  again  to-morrow, —  if  you  don't 
see  us,  be  sure  and  come  up  to  the  house." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Their  clam  slackened  the  current,  and  made  it 
easier  for  us  for  some  time  after  we  lost  sight  them. 

"  That  Tom's  a  first-rate  fellow  !"  declared  Joe, 
"  I  wish  he  lived  down  at  Pierhaven." 

"  Yes  ;  the  people  here  are  rather  different  from 
those  Frenchies  at  Shad  Factory.  I'm  filled  up  so 
I  don't  believe  I  can  eat  anything  more  to-night ! " 

"Well  our  things'll  keep.  Hullo,  though  !  there's 
our  fish  !  we  must  cook  them  to-night,  whether  we 
eat  'em  or  not.     That  pickerel  mustn't  be  wasted!" 

"  Nor  the  time  we  spent  in  going  back  to  get  it ! " 

Now  a  path  came  down  to  where  a  rock  stood 
out  of  water,  near  the  middle  ;  on  each  side  of  it 
was  a  big  chunk  of  stone.  Somebody  had  put  them 
in  to  step  across  on,  for  the  stream  widened  out  a 
little  here,  and  was  less  than  a  foot  deep. 

They  were  too  near  together  for  the  Triton  to 
get  between,  so  we  rolled  up  our  trowsers  and  set 
ourselves  to  trundle  one  or  the  other  of  them  out  of 
the  way.  We  couldn't  start  either,  first  time  trying, 
they  were  so  embedded ;  and  we  thought  of  work- 
ing her  around  on  the  sloping  sandy  shore.  But 
first  a  little  time  in  undermining  the  most  promis- 
ing ;  and  then  we  made  out  to  start  it,  and  shifted  it 
enough  so  the  boat  could  go  by.     We  didn't  put  it 

16  2+l 


242  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT, 

back  again,  as  we  would. need  the  passage  next  day; 
whoever  couldn't  jump  that  ought  to  walk,  we 
thought. 

A  little  beyond  there,  the  stream  was  fringed  by 
undergrowth  and  saplings,  and  it  was  something 
like  those  pretty  reaches  we  came  through  the  day 
beforej  only  here  it  was  narrower,  and  we  found  it 
hard  getting  along. 

We  heard  a  cart  rattling  a  little  way  off,  and  men 
talking;  but  we  could  see  nothing  of  them.  I 
thought  they  were  loading  hay  How  little  they 
dreamed  that  a  boat  was  moving  along  close  by. 

Soon  after  this,  the  branches  began  to  grow 
across  so  thickly  that  it  was  terribly  scratchy  work, 
and  at  last  we  had  to  take  the  hatchet  to  them  ;  it 
was  the  worst  tangle  we  had  come  to.  We  hacked 
and  pushed  our  way  through  this  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  and  made,  may  be,  two  or  three  dozen  yards 
headway. 

When  the  bushes  thinned  away,  we  found  our- 
selves near  the  foot  of  a  fall, —  or  more  like  rapids, 
— where  the  stream  came  down  quite  steeply  for 
two  or  three  rods,  foaming  and  rushing  over  rocks  ; 
but  fortunately  there  was  a  smooth  grassy  bank  on 
the  left,  and  we  unloaded  the  boat  and  slid  her  up 
to  where  we  could  launch  her  above. 

It  seemed  as  though  all  the  falling  the  water 
cared  to  do  along  here  was  done  at  this  one  place 
for  now  the  current  was  quite  gentle,  so  for  a  while 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  243 

we  had  a  pretty  easy  time  ; — and  we  weren't  sorry, 
I  tell  you  ;  for  our  hewing,  heaving  and  hauling  had 
made  us  very  hot,  as  well  as  tired.  Now  we  took 
turns  in  tbwinsf  alono-  the  bank  ;  the  steering  was 
so  easy,  it  amounted  to  resting. 

Our  stream,  the  "  Pequonset  River,"  was  now  a 
little  less  than  twice  the  width  of  the  boat,  on  an 
average,  and  from  one  to  two  feet  deep ;  it  slid 
quietly  along,  with  a  splash  now  and  then  as  a  frog 
slung  himself  in  the  water  before  us. 


THE  OLD  ORCHARD. 

We  passed  an  old  orchard,  where  the  trees  were 
all  fringed  with  yellow-green  lichens,  and  every  one 
had  some  dead  branches  ;  some  were  about  all  that 
way.  But  a  few  old  veterans  were  carrying  brave 
loads  of  apples,  though  I  noticed  there  were  no 
windfalls  on  the  ground; — which  wasn't  to  be  won- 
dered at ;  for  seven  or  eight  half-grown  pigs  came 
trotting  up,  and  sniffed  toward  us  with  inquiring 
grunts.     Three  of  them  escorted  us  a  little  way, 


244  OUR  WEEK  AFLOA T. 

till  I  raised  a  splashing  with  the  oar ;  then  they 
showed  us  the  graceful  twist  of  their  tails. 

At  last  "  Beames'  Brook"  came  flowing-  in  from 
the  left  with  a  swift  current,  pushing  the  boat  over 
to  the  opposite  bank.  We  thought  it  seemed  to 
bring  in  about  one-third  of  the  water  we  had  been 
traveling  on  ;  but  there  was  enough  yet  in  the 
main  stream  to  float  us,  so  the  Triton  was  still 
pointed  upward. 

The  bottom  grew  stony  ;  once  or  twice  a  rock 
touched  along  underneath,  then  the  boat  bumped 
up  on  one  and  stuck.  I  got  out — Joe  was  already 
out  towing — but  she  wasn't  very  willing  to  come 
even  then.  There  was  more  of  a  current ;  and,  at 
last,  it  got  to  be  such  rugged  traveling,  that  we 
said  there  wasn't  any  sense  in  grinding  our  boat  to 
pieces  (and  fagging  ourselves  out)  for  the  sake  of 
getting  her  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther.  So  we 
didn't  bother  the  Triton  any  longer,  but  left  her  at 
peace  in  a  little  pool  at  a  bend,  while  we  pushed  on 
to  do  a  little  more  exploring  before  sunset. 

Once  more  the  rushing  of  water  grew  louder  as 
we  advanced,  but  it  was  no  mill-dam  this  time ;  the 
stream  came  foaming  and  leaping  down  a  long, 
rocky  slope,  splitting  and  re-uniting,  shooting  over 
smooth  inclines,  tumbling  off  jutting  shelves ;  it 
wasn't  at  rest  a  moment.  The  sound  of  a  heavier 
plunge  behind  the  trees  came  to  us  through  the 
general  uproar,  and,  in  a  few  moments,  wre  saw  a 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  24s 

double  fall,  which  must  have  been  nearly  twenty 
feet  high.  At  the  top  the  stream  divided,  and 
poured  down  on  each  side  upon  a  step  a  yard  or 
two  wide,  where  it  united,  and  made  the  second 
plunge  in  one  body  down  the  middle. 

This  was  the  best  fall  we  had  come  across ;  per- 
haps the  one  at  the  island,  the  first  day,  was  as 
handsome  in  its  way ;  but  there  was  ten  times  as 
much  water  here. 

Above,  it  still  came  rushing  down  the  slope  ;  at 
one  place  it  had  worn  the  rock  in  an  odd  fashion, 
making  a  narrow  channel,  or  groove,  a  couple  of 
yards  long.  Then  we  came  to  a  sort  of  trough, 
large  enough  to  hold  three  boats  like  ours,  and 
three  or  four  feet  deep ;  here,  at  last,  was  a 
moment's  halt  in  the  dashing  and  foaming.  We 
agreed  that  it  was  a  capital  bath-tub  ;  but  it  was 
getting  late,  and  we  hadn't  time  to  take  advantage 
of  it.  From  where  the  water  spouted  into  its  up- 
stream end,  we  followed  up  the  torrent  for  five 
minutes  more,  before  coming  to  the  level  at  the 
top,  where  it  quieted  down,  and  curved  away  into 
the  woods  at  our  left. 

Here,  on  the  top,  it  was  clear  of  trees  for  quite 
a  space,  with  rocks  cropping  out  of  the  short  turf 
all  around. 

"  This  hill  must  be  the  same  as  the  one  we  rode 
up  just  before  we  came  to  the  turnpike,"  said  I. 
"  This  brook  is  a  deal  higher  at  Hollisville  than 
at  the  Holcomb's." 


246  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

To  the  right  the  ground  rose  to  a  small  rocky 
ridge,  and  from  there  we  could  get  a  view  in  some 
directions.  The  spire  of  the  "  Orthodox  "  Church 
was  in  sight,  about  half  a  mile  to  the  northwest. 
The  sun  was  getting  quite  low ;  but  the  air  was 
still  unusually  warm,  without  a  breath  of  wind  ;  to 
the  north  the  clouds  were  piled  in  great  "thunder- 
heads  "  of  a  deep  pearl-gray,  except  where  the 
edofes  to  the  west  were  touched  with  bright  reddish- 
gold  light.  Suddenly  a  faint  glimmer  of- lightning 
played  beneath  them,  and  was  gone  in  an  instant. 

'■  Squally  weather  there!"  said  Joe.  "If  it 
travels  down  this  way  we'll  find  out  how  our  tents'll 
shed  rain  !" 

We  thought  we'd  camp  on  a  level  spot  across 
from  the  old  orchard,  and  it  was  time  to  be  grettine 
back  there.  Our  exploring  had  reached  its  limits. 
From  this  time  we  would  be  going  back  over  the 
same  ground  (or  water);  but  the  fun  wasn't  over 
yet,  and,  as  Joe  said,  it  would  be  a  deal  easier 
now,  with  the  current  favoring  us,  the  snags 
chopped  away,  and  our  dam  built. 

He  said  he  wished  we  could  take  the  latitude 
and  longitude  of  this  spot,  as  was  the  regular  style 
with  explorers,  but  I  laughed  at  that.  I  said  that 
as  a  degree  of  latitude  was  nearly  seventy  miles 
long,  and  one  of  longitude  about  fifty,  at  this  dis- 
tance from  the  equator,  we  hadn't  counted  much  in 
that  line,  as  yet.     I  didn't  believe  the   Hollisville 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  247 

people  troubled  themselves  much  about  their  lati- 
tude and  longitude. 

We  agreed,  however,  to  raise  a  "  cairn  "  of  stones 
on  the  ledge,  to  mark  our  farthest  point.  This 
being  duly  done,  we  made  our  way  past  the  falls 
and  rapids  to  our  boat. 

"The   Tritons  farthest  north!"    exclaimed  Joe. 

"  The  head  of  navigation  ! "  I  echoed. 

We  towed  her  back  to  the  meeting  of  the  brook, 
then  dropped  easily  down  to  the  old  orchard,  where 
we  hove  the  anchor  ashore. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Having  reached  our  "  Ultima  Thule," — if  you 
know  what  that  is —  we  were  now  ready  for  explor- 
ing of  a  humbler  order  ;  and  the  hope  of  coming 
across  an  apple  of  which  we  could  endure  a  second 
bite  drew  us  from  one  bent  and  gnarly  tree  to 
another,  till  we  had  wandered  nearly  across  to  the 
tumble-down  fence  at  the  upper  end,  where  we 
found  an  ancient  "July  sweeting,"  which  bore  a 
few  specimens  which  we  thought  worth  pocket- 
ing, and  there  were  just  about  enough  to  fill  our 
pockets. 

The  pigs  were  nowhere  to  be  seen;  we  concluded 
they  had  gone  home  for  the  night.  There  were  a 
dozen  or  two  bright  yellow  apples  on  a  tree  a  few 
paces  to  the  right,  which  looked  as  though  they 
might  be  worth  the  trouble  of  sampling  ;  but  as  we 
moved  that  way,  we  saw  a  chimney  and  a  section  of 
a  weather-stained  roof  !  I  had  felt  that  what  we 
had  taken  was  ours  by  right  of  discovery,  and  would 
otherwise  go  to  waste,  or  at  the  best  be  crunched 
by  hogs — but  with  a  house  close  at  hand,  it  seemed 
a  little  different.  "Come  on!"  said  Joe,  "let's 
see  what  there  is  ;  if  we  pay  for  every  apple  on  the 
place,   it  won't  break  us  !" 

On  going  through  a  bar-way,  which  had  no  bars,  the 

248 


0  UR  II  *EEK  .  I  FLO.  I  T.  249 

house  stood  in  sight, —  where  the  great  hushes  and 
wilderness  of  creepers  funning  wild,  would  let  it  be 
seen,  occasionally. 

"  It  doesn't  look  very  lively,"  said  I. 

"Nobody  at  home  to-day,  I  should  say!"  re- 
marked Joe. 

But  the  door  was  wide  open, —  and  most  of  the 
windows  ;  to  be  sure,  it  was  a  hot  day,  but  people 
don't  generally  smash  out  nine-tenths  of  the  glass, 
even  in  the  hottest  weather,  or  punch  out  holes 
through  the  roof  ! 

It  was  plain  that  nobody  had  lived  there  for  a  long 
time  ;  the  gray  shingles  on  the  roof  and  gables  were 
curled  by  sun  and  gnawed  by  storm  ;  around  a  great 
gap  near  one  chimney  were  clustered  the  orange- 
red  flowers  of  a  huge  trumpet-vine,  which  rose  and 
spread  at  one  side  of  the  door,  and  was  met  from 
the  other  side  by  the  sprays  of  a  lilac-bush  —  or 
rather  tree, —  around  whose  stems  clung  long, 
thorny  shoots  of  "high  blackberry,"  with  plenty  of 
leaves  and  little  fruit.  The  longf  crass,  in  what  had 
been  the  path  to  the  step,  looked  as  though  no  one 
had  disturbed  it  that  summer;  but  Joe  now  pro- 
ceeded to  do  so,  observing,  "  This  is  an  exploring 
expedition,  I  believe  ! " 

After  brushing  and  scratching-  through  the  bushes, 
we  entered  the  doorway ;  the  door,  parted  from  its 
hinges,  lay  at  one  side.  There  was  no  "  entry- 
way  ";  we  found  ourselves  at  once  in  the  kitchen, — 


25°  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

a  good-sized  room,  half  the  lower  story  ;  the  big 
joists  above  were  planed  smooth,  and  colored  a  dull 
black,  as  though  from  smoke,  though  perhaps  they 
had  been  painted  so. 

There  was  a  wainscot  around  two  sides ;  on  the 
other  two  it  was  mostly  torn  away,  showing  the 
studding  timbers,  which  were  hewn,  not  sawed,  and 
showed  the  bark  in  some  places  ;  the  spaces  be- 
tween were  built  up  with  small,  rough  stones,  laid 
in  mortar.  Above  the  wainscot,  where  the  plaster- 
ing had  come  away  in  great  patches,  we  could  see 
that  it  had  been  spread  on  these  stones,  like  a  cel- 
lar wall ;  but  it  wasn't  so  altogether,  for  there  were 
laths,  too,  in  some  places,  and  these  were  of  various 
sizes ;  it  was  plain  they  had  been  split  by  hand.  It 
seemed  as  though  whoever  did  the  work,  couldn't 
make  up  his  mind  which  was  the  least  trouble,— *•  to 
lay  up  the  stones,  or  split  and  nail  the  laths ;  when 
he  got  tired  of  one,  he  changed  to  the  other,  for  a 
rest.  And  the  nails !  no  two  alike,  with  big  clumsy 
heads,  and  tough,  slender  shafts  ; — they  were  hand- 
made, too. 

"  I  wonder  if  they  made  their  own  hammers,"  said 
Joe,  "  or  pounded  these  nails  in  with  a  stone  ! " 

More  than  one-third  of  the  floor  boards  were 
gone,  leaving  chasms, —  which  weren't  deep,  how- 
ever, as  there  was  no  cellar  under  this  half  of  the 
house.  The  fireplace  was  a  big  one,  of  course,  and 
floored  with  large  flat  stones ;  we  walked  right  in 


NOBODY  AT  HOME  TO-PAY,  I  SHOULD  SAY!"  REMARKED  JOE.   251 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  253 

without  stooping,  and  looked  up  the  chimney  at  the 
sky.  The  chimney  was  built  of  stones,  too  —  all 
sizes  and  kinds  ;  on  one  side  of  it  was  a  closet,  with 
shelves  still  in  place  ;  on  the  other  was  a  brick  oven, 
with  a  small  closet  above,  the  door  of  which  was 
gone.  The  windows  were  in  various  states ;  one 
hadn't  even  a  sash,  another  had  but  one ;  and  those 
with  both  had  few  whole  panes;  the  glass  was  so 
crooked  that  it  curled  and  twisted  whatever  was 
seen  through  it.  The  bushes  and  tall  weeds  grew 
up  against  the  outside  and  shut  out  the  light, —  but 
more  light  would  only  have  showed  more  plainly 
what  a  dismal,  ruinous  place  it  was. 

In  the  eastern  half  were  two  rooms,  about  as 
dilapidated  ;  each  had  a  small  fireplace  across  the 
inner  corner,  which  opened  into  the  same  chimney. 
There  was  no  hall ;  the  stairs  ran  right  up  from 
the  kitchen,  and  they  looked  so  shaky  we  were 
almost  afraid  to  try  them.  I  was  lighter,  so  I  ven- 
tured up  first. 

It  was  a  "  story-and-a-half "  house,  and  up  stairs 
was  a  small  room  partitioned  off  over  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  kitchen,  and  two  at  the  other 
end,  over  the  two  down  stairs.  These  rooms  were 
lathed  and  plastered,  leaving  an  unfinished  garret 
in  the  middle  and  the  northwest  part. 

Joe  had  now  tip-toed  up,  and  he  called  my  atten- 
tion to  the  top  step,  or  landing,  of  the  stairs  ;  at 
one  end,  it  was  on  the  level  of  the  garret  floor, 


254  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

which  had  sagged  down  from  that  point,  so  the 
other  end  of  the  step,  a  yard  away,  stood  at  least 
three  inches  above  the  floor.  "If  the  stairs  hold 
their  own  as  well  as  that,  I  guess  we  can  trust  'em  ! " 
he  said. 

The  partitions  were  built  up  with  posts  and  slabs, 
most  of  which  had  plenty  of  the  original  bark  still 
on  ;  against  them  the  laths — or  split  sticks — were 
nailed.  There  were  two  good-sized  holes  in  the 
roof,  and  the  light  poured  in,  and  sifted  through 
the  cracks  everywhere  around  ;  if  it  hadn't  been 
for  that  'twould  have  been  pretty  dark,  as  the  gar- 
ret had  only  a  little  bit  of  a  window  in  the  gable. 

The  rooms  weren't  particularly  interesting,  except 
that  the  floors  tipped  every  way,  so  it  seemed 
pretty  ticklish  to  walk  on  them  ;  the  boards  were 
gone  in  some  places,  and  small  holes  stove  through 
the  ceilings  of  the  rooms  beneath,  so  we  could  look 
down  in.  Here  were  little  fireplaces  across  the 
corners,  just  as  below ;  and  an  old  rusty  stove 
stood  in  front  of  one  of  them,  the  most  modern 
thing  in  the  place — unless  a  sparrow's  nest,  in  the 
gap  of  the  wall  may  have  been  of  later  date — and 
dozens  of  names  penciled  around  on  the  plaster- 
ing ;  they  were  of  all  dates,  from  fifteen  years  back. 

In  the  garret  was  what  I  knew  for  part  of  a 
spinning  wheel,  the  legs  and  standards ;  the  wheel 
was  gone.  Joe  set  it  under  the  break  in  the  roof 
for  him  to  perch  on,  while  he  reached  out  for  some 
of  the  trumpet-flowers. 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  255 

I  noticed  that  the  chimneys  were  built  of  stone 
up  to  just  under  the  roof,  and  then  the  bricks 
began. 

"  Wonder  if  they  made  their  own  bricks  ! "  said  I. 

"  Perhaps  they  got  them  from  that  brick-yard 
down  the  river ;  that  looks  as  though  it  might  be 
about  as  old  as  this  place.  It  had  the  mono- 
poly then,  most  likely,  and  charged  up  good  and 
solid  ;  so  the  people  here  just  economized  on  their 
bricks." 

The  sun  had  set  while  we  were  yet  in  the 
orchard,  and  it  was  time  for  us  to  be  making  our 
camp;  so  we  went  down  stairs;  we  didn't  slam 
down,  three  steps  at  a  time,  and  a  jump  ;  but  stepped 
quietly  and  politely,  as  though  the  minister  had 
come  to  tea.  Then  it  struck  Joe  we  hadn't  been 
down  cellar.  "  Let's  do  the  whole  thing,  it'll  only 
take  a  minute  more." 

The  ricketty  stairs  were  still  in  place,  with  two 
steps  gone  at  the  bottom ;  and  on  the  wall  above, 
the  fading  light  streamed  in  through  the  sashless 
window,  showing  in  big,  straggling  letters : 

Ye  who  come  here  for  sport  or  fun 
Ye  gidy  things  be  carefull  how  you  run 
For  in  the  celler  right  down  here 
There  lies  the  murderd  Peter  Greer. 

Joe  looked  at  me,  and  we  both  laughed.  "If 
he's  dead,  he  won't  hinder  us!"  said  he,  and  started 
down  ;  and  I  followed. 

I  knew  that  ridiculous  stuff  had    been    written 


256  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

by  some  young  idiot  who  didn't  know  how  to 
spell ;  but  it  made  the  place  seem  different,  some- 
how. 

Joe  jumped  to  the  bottom,  and  so  did  I  ;  but  be- 
fore I  touched  ground  there  were  wild  ejaculations 
behind  us!  and  a  thumping  and  rushing  which  un- 
settled me  so  that  I  came  down  on  all-fours.  'Twas 
three  of  those  miserable  hogs,  and  they  scuttled  out 
through  a  gap  in  the  wall ;  I  saw  what  it  was  in  less 
than  a  second  but  it  took  a  minute  or  two  for  me  to 
get  over  the  first  part  of  that  second.  I  didn't  let 
Joe  know  that ;  we  both  laughed,  and  he  said  the 
"  murderd "  Peter  seemed  to  have  plenty  of 
society  ;  if  he'd  known  he  was  receiving  company, 
he  wouldn't  have  intruded. 

But  we  didn't  find  anything  there  worth  staying 
for,  and  in  two  minutes  more  we  were  outside,  tak- 
ing our  last  look  at  the  desolate  old  shanty,  with 
the  vines  clambering  and  flowers  blooming  over  its 
old  mossy  roof,  humped  like  the  back  of  a  drome- 
dary. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

We  hurried  through  the  orchard,  and  were  soon 
busy  with  our  camp,  which  was  on  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  thus  setting  bounds  to  the  inquisitive 
snouts  of  the  porkers,  in  case  they  should  be  the 
earlier  risers.  I  was  taking  the  sail  off  the  mast, 
that  it  might  serve  as  my  tent  once  more,  when  Joe 
exclaimed,  "  Gracious  !  those  fish  !  we  mustn't  for- 
get them  !  " 

Sure  enough  !  but  we  weren't  hungry  enough  to 
care  about  cooking  them,  especially  when  it  was  so 
warm  ;  and  as  they  weren't  fresh-caught  now,  any- 
way, we  thought  we  would  try  and  keep  them  over 
night-  They  were  in  the  stern  locker  ;  it  wasn't  a 
refrigerator,  exactly,  this  weather,  and  they  were 
rather  dry  and  dull-looking  ;  but  a  rinsing  freshened 
them  up  some. 

Joe  thought  he'd  put  them  in  the  brook,  as  the 

coolest  place,  and  began  stringing  them  together; 

but  I  feared  the  pigs  might  swim  across  after  them. 

Joe  didn't  believe  they  liked  swimming  enough  for 

that ;  but  he   admitted   that  a  dog   or   something 

might  happen  along,  and  'twas  best  to  be  on  the 

safe  side  ;  so  we  dug  out  a  little  basin  in  the  shore, 

close  to  the  water,  which  ran  in  by  a  short  channel 

we  made;  when  the  hollow  was  full,  and  had  settled 

257 
17  5/ 


258  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

clear,  Joe  laid  in  the  fish,  and  covered  the  place 
with  a  big  flat  stone ;  we  set  a  few  more  heavy  stones 
close  around,  to  fortify  against  rooting.  "  We  don't 
want  to  lose  that  pickerel !"  said  Joe. 

It  didn't  take  ten  minutes  to  get  our  tents  all 
rigged  ;  we'd  grown  pretty  expert  by  this  time. 

"  Does  it  seem  possible,  Joe,  that  we  were  in  this 
boat  at  Pierhaven  only  day  before  yesterday  ?  " 

"Or  that  we  slept  in  a  regular  bed  the  night 
before  !  Well ;  I  wouldn't  mind  keeping  this  up  for 
three  or  four  weeks  !  " 

"  Provided  we  had  good  weather." 

"Oh,  well,  explorers  aren't  fit  for  much  who  can't 
stand  a  little  weather.  We're  not  made  of  sugar 
or  salt,  and  a  shower  or  two  won't  melt  us  !  " 

Which  was  so,  no  doubt ;  still  I  think  neither  Joe 
nor  I  was  anxious  to  be  put  to  the  test. 

We  walked  up  the  gentle  easterly  slope  to  the 
top  of  a  knoll,  on  which  were  a  few  tall  chestnut 
trees.  From  here  we  could  see  the  deserted  house, 
with  the  pale  light  from  the  west  touching  its  crumb- 
ling chimneys,  and  showing  dimly  the  roof  of 
another  building,  —  a  barn,  probably  —  not  far  off ; 
we  hadn't  perceived  it  when  we  Were  near  by. 

The  heavy  clouds  still  hung  in  the  north  and 
east,  a  dusky,  leaden  mass.  Suddenly  the  lightning 
flickered  from  deep  within  their  midst,  showing  a 
beautiful  maze  of  light  and  dark  cloud  shapes  piled 
above  each  other,   and  reaching  miles  back  to  the 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  23$ 

horizon;  the  next  instant  the  display  had  vanished 
like  magic,  and  the  place  where  it  had  been  was 
again  flat  and  murky  as  a  fog-bank.  In  half  a  min- 
ute, another  space  farther  around  to  the  east  flashed 
out  into  glowing  heights  and  gloomy  depths,  stretch- 
ing away  like  a  range  of  enchanted  mountains, — 
and  then  left  us  to  imagine  that  wide  and  rugged 
region  in  the  bit  of  dull  gray  cloud  that  took  its 
place. 

These  two  storm-centers  kept  answering  each 
other,  and  were  echoed  by  fainter  glimmers  between. 

"This  is  something  like  your  moon-cloud  you 
were  talking  about, — showing  up  bright  as  day  in 
the  night-time.  Maybe  it'll  work  'round  by-and-by, 
and  give  you  a  chance  to  see  how  it  looks  close  to." 

"  Let  her  come  !  "  I  answered,  "  the  old  Triton  s 
sail'll  be  over  by  that  time.  I'd  a  deal  rather  it 
would  rain  to-night,  if  its  got  to,  and  be  over  by 
morning.     We'll  camp  to-morrow  night, — where?" 

"  Let's  see,"  said  Joe.  "  We'll  go  back  with  the 
current,  faster  than  we  came  ;  and  we  won't  have  to 
stop  and  build  a  dam,  or  drive  to  Hollisville  again, 
though  those  Holcomb  boys  will  want  to  talk  with 
us  awhile,  I  suppose.  Now,  last  night  we  camped 
a  little  this  side  of  Harlow's  Pond  ;  and  to-morrow 
we  ought  to  get  farther  down  than  that." 

"  We  ought  to  get  considerably  farther  clown. 
You  remember  that  hard  place,  where  we  first  had 
to  shove  through  the  branches, — that's  just  below 


260  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Shad  Factory  ;  and  then  come  those  pretty  reaches 
where  the  trees  arch  over.    There  isn't  a  crack  you 

k  J 

could  throw  a  dog  through,  all  along.  The  first 
place  I  can  think  of  where  we  coulcl  find  room  for 
the  tents,  is  where  that  beech  tree  grows  across." 

"  Well,  that's  a  good  place ;  if  we  can't  go  farther 
before  dark,  we'll  stop  there." 

The  night-hawks  were  sailing  and  plunging  far 
above ;  their  constant  squeaking  came  down  to  us, 
and  every  few  seconds  one  of  them  would  give  a 
dive,  then  turn  quickly  up  ;  and  we  could  hear  the 
strange  booming  they  make  at  such  times. 

"  I  remember  the  first  time  I  ever  noticed  those 
chaps,"  said  Joe.  "  I  was  at  uncle  Townley's,  in 
Connecticut, —  I  couldn't  have  been  more  than  five 
years  old, —  and  I  was  sitting  with  him  on  the  steps, 
about  this  time  of  day.  I  heard  these  birds  keeping 
up  their  noise,  and  watched  their  capers ;  uncle  told 
me  they  were  -  night-hawks,'  and  said  they  were 
calling  '  beef !  beef !  beef  ! '  and  then  they  roared 
out  'pork  !'  when  they  came  swooping  down. 

"  He  didn't  tell  me  they  were  little  harmless  crea- 
tures, not  as  big  as  a  pigeon,  and  lived  on  mosqui- 
toes and  such  things  ;  —  and  he  never  dreamed  that 
for  years  afterward  my  idea  was  that  they  were 
great,  black,  ferocious  fellows,  as  large  as  I,  or  pretty 
nearly  so,  which  hankered  after  beef-and-pork  as  a 
general  thing,  but  were  willing  perhaps  to  try  small 
boy,   if  nothing   else  was  handy.       I   didn't  fancy 


O  UR  WEEK  A  FLO  A  T  261 

night-hawks  for  quite  a  while;  there  was  something 
dreadful  about  the  very  name  of  'em,  and  when  I 
heard  them  screaming  savagely  for  their  'beef-and- 
pork! '  I  didn't  want  to  be  too  far  from  cover." 


"  It  does  beat  all  what  notions  little  fellows  get 
hold  of,  doesn't  it?  Now  there's  any  quantity  of 
boys, —  big  ones,  too, —  who'd  rather  face  a  hornet 
any  time  than  a  dragon-fly.' 

"  I  know  it ;  I  used  to  believe  myself  that  they'd 


262  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

sew  my  mouth  up,  if  they  took  a  fancy  to  ;  I'm  sure 
I  don't  know  what  I  thought  Fd  be  doing  while 
they  were  at  it  !  To-day  even,  I've  dodged  two  or 
three  times,  before  I  thought,  when  one  came  whiz- 
zing closer  than  common.  I  think  it  was  seeing  you 
handle  one,  two  or  three  years  ago,  that  got  me 
over  that  fancy." 

"  Well,  that  ought  to  offset  that  scorpion  busi- 
ness you  were  so  tickled  about  yesterday,  seems 
to  me." 

He  was  good-natured  enough  to  admit  this  ;  and 
shortly  afterward  we  went  down  to  camp,  and 
turned  in. 

Some  time  in  the  night  I  got  to  dreaming  about 
being  with  Joe  in  that  tumble-down  house  ;  I  don't 
remember  anything  plain  about  it,  except  that  it 
was  rather  dismal  and  "scary,"  and  that,  finally, 
Joe  persisted  in  climbing  out  on  the  roof  through 
the  gap.  I  didn't  want  him  to,  for  I  was  certain 
'twouldn't  hold ;  and  sure  enough  !  about  half  the 
roof  came  smashing  down,  letting  in  a  great  glare 
of  light,  and  he  slammed  and  crashed  through  the 
floor  into  the  lower  story.  It  was  terrific  !  and, 
just  as  I  made  up  my  mind  he  was  killed,  I  felt 
myself  waking  up. 

I  knew  where  I  was,  right  off ;  and  was  glad 
enough  to  know  it,  though  I  felt  pretty  well 
"  jolted,"  same  as  I  did  when  we  met  the  pigs 
down  cellar.     The  night  was  dark  as  pitch,  but  it 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT  263 

wasn't  still ;  I  heard  a  patter  and  rush  ;  I  put  up 
my  hand  to  feel  of  the  tent,  and  found  it  was  wet. 

Then  I  knew  it  was  raining,  but  I  didn't  mind; 
that  made  it  all  the  cosier.  I  turned  over,  and  was 
thinking  in  a  sleepy  sort  of  way  how  those  rain-drops 
started  from  away  up,  a  mile  or  two,  may  be,  aiming 
right  for  my  face ;  and  the  stanch  little  sail  stopped 
'em  at  the  last  moment, —  when  there  came  a  blaze 
of  lightning  and  a  crash  and  roll  of  thunder  that 
started  me  wider  awake  than  ever.  I  lay  waiting 
for  another,  but  it  seemed  a  long  time  before  it 
came,  and  then  it  didn't  amount  to  nearly  as  much 
as  the  first,  —and  so  the  storm  tapered  off  by  de- 
grees, with  glimmerings  and  mutterings  farther  and 
farther  off.  I  guess  I  was  asleep  before  it  quite  got 
through. 

Next  morning,  the  first  thing  I  was  aware  of  was 
the  same  pattering  on  the  cloth  roof  just  above  my 
head, —  so  we  would  have  to  make  our  downward 
start  in  the  rain,  after  all.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the 
boat  had  a  slight  tilt,  or  "  list,"  to  port.  As  I  got 
wider  awake,  I  raised  my  head  to  get  what  view  of 
things  outside  the  tent-opening  might  allow,  and 
found  I  was  looking  nearly  down-stream ;  whereas 
the  last  twilight  of  the  evening  before  had  shown 
me  the  crooked  interlacingbranches  of  the  old  apple- 
trees  above  the  opposite  bank  ! 

This  startled  me,  and  I  scrambled  up  and  put  out 
my  head ;  then   I  saw  that  the  stream  had  swelled 


264  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

enough  to  throw  the  boat  around  sideways.  I  had 
kept  up  the  practice  of  knotting  the  painter  to  the 
cot-stake,  so  there  had  been  no  drifting.  The  water 
had  plainly  been  higher  than  now,  as  the  Triton 
was  aground  on  the  sloping  shore,  with  the  edge  of 
the  current  washing  along  her  port  side. 

It  wasn't  raining  very  hard  now;  still  I  thought 
fit  to  try  to  dress  inside  the  tent.  It  wasn't  as  high 
as  the  other,  or  "  shore"  tent ;  and  that  wasn't  any 
too  high,  though  when  you  were  lying  down,  'twas 
all  right.  I  found  it  a  wofully  awkward  job  ;  my 
shoulders  would  rub  up  against  the  cold,  wet  slope 
on  either  side,  spite  of  all  I  could  do  ;  but  after 
protracted  misery  I  finally  pulled  on  my  waterproof, 
and  crawled  out  to  take  observations. 

Joe  didn't  seem  to  be  awake,  yet,  I  wondered 
what  time  it  could  be  ;  my  dial  wouldn't  work  this 
morning.  The  wind  was  coming  in  puffs,  from  the 
southeast ;  everything  was  dripping,  and  I  didn't 
see  much  chance  of  making  a  fire  ;  still  I  didn't 
know  as  there  was  any  need  of  one,  after  all.  Yes 
there  was,  though — those  fish  !  If  they  weren't  at- 
tended to  they  would  spoil,  and  that  couldn't  be 
thought  of,  when  they  were  our  own  catching,  and 
we  had  carried  them  so  far. 

Perhaps  the  lamp  in  our  lantern,  —  which  we 
hadn't  used  yet  —  might  heat  a  tin  plate  enough  to 
fry  them. 

"  Hullo! "  hailed  Joe,  '*.  seems  to  me  your  tent  looks 
rather  lopsided!     You  see  now    I    wasn't  such   a 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  265 

fool  when  I  talked  about  freshets  the  other  even- 
ing-. If  you  hadn't  hitched  to  this  stake,  you'd  have 
been  snaked  down  the  chute  of  rocks  below  here ; 
and  I'd  have  had  to  get  the  Holcombs  to  drag  Glenn's 
Pond  for  you  !  "  "Not  much!"  I  returned.  "I'd 
have  stuck  to  the  Triton  every  time,  you  can  be 
sure  I 

"  If  you  had,  you'd  kerwholloped  over  the  dam, 
for  Mr.  Odell  to  gather  up  in  detachments  ! " 

"  Well,"  I  laughed,  "  that's  no  worse  than  I  really 
thought  had  happened  to  you,  for  a  little  while  ! " 
And  then  I  told  him  my  dream. 

"  '  Twas  one  of  those  thunder-claps  did  that  for 
you  !  "  said  he.  "  Must  have  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion ;  I  see  you're  in  mourning  yet !"  (My  water- 
proof was  black,  of  course.)  "  If  you  were  awake,  " 
he  went  on,  "  why  didn't  you  answer  when  I 
yelled  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  hear  you  ;  it  must  have  been  before  I 
woke  up." 

"  Well,  I  guess  the  first  of  it  roused  me.  After 
it  had  been  flashing  and  whanging  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  I  judged  you  couldn't  be  asleep  through  that, 
so  I  tried  to  start  a  conversation  ;  but  you  never 
made  a  sign,  — and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  if  the 
'  thunder-drum  of  heaven  '  couldn't  start  you,  'twas 
no  use  for  me  to  try." 

In  a  few  moments  more,  Joe  was  dressed  ;  and  I 
got  him  his  water-proof  from  the  locker. 

"The  first  thing,  now,  is  to  cook  those  fish." 


266  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"Just  what  I  was  thinking  of ;  but  every  particle 
of  wood  'round  here  is  soaked." 

"  Not  all  I  guess.  I  saw  lots  of  it  under  cover, 
in  various  assorted  sizes,  yesterday,  —  up  that  way," 
pointing  through  the  orchard. 

The  old  house !  why  hadn't  I  thought  of  it ! 

"  But  where  are  the  fish  ?  It  can't  be^  that  the 
river  has  washed  away  those  stones —  Ho  !  they're 
under  the  boat !" 

We  laid  hold  of  the  Triton,  and  hauled  her  far- 
ther ashore ;  and  where  she  had  been  were  the 
stones,  as  we  had  left  them  the  night  before  ;  and 
the  fish  were  there  too,  all  right. 

"  Those  fish  were  well  guarded  !  "  said  I.  "  Nobody 
could  have  taken  them  without  passing  over  my 
dead  body  ! " 

"  Your  sound-asleep  body,  you  mean!  'Twouldn't 
have  been  anything  great  to  have  got  'em,  the  way 
you  slept  through  that  storm.  Now  we'll  go  right 
up  and  start  the  fire." 

We  thought  we  might  as  well  take  the  wet  tents, 
to  see  if  we  could  dry  them  before  folding  them 
away ;  and  the  blankets,  too,  which  were  pretty 
damp,  especially  Joe's  ;  he  said  the  rain  trickled 
from  the  tent  to  the  edge  of  the  cot,  in  some  places, 
and  soaked  around  underneath. 

So  we  struck  camp  ;  we  drove  a  stake  on  the 
orchard  side,  and  tied  the  boat  to  it.  It  was  still 
raining,  and  we  hoisted  the  umbrella  to  shelter  the 
blankets,  while  we  made  our  way  to  the  house. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  old  house  looked  more  forlorn  than  ever ; 
black  and  sodden,  with  all  the  bushes  and  weeds 
wet  and  dripping ;  but  it  was  scarcely  as  wet  inside 
as  might  have  been  expected,  considering  how  far 
the  ramshackle  old  concern  was  from  being  weather- 
tight. 

We  had  brought  the  hatchet,  of  course,  and 
while  Joe  cleaned  the  fish  I  knocked  off  a  number 
of  the  laths,  and  hacked  up  two  of  the  floor-boards 
that  hadn't  caught  much  of  the  drip. 

Then  I  piled  the  driest  sticks  under  the  great 
chimney,  and  struck  a  match. 

"  Little  this  fireplace  knew  about  matches  when 
they  started  the  first  fire  in  it,  or  for  some  time 
after,  likely,"  I  remarked.  "  Fancy  getting  down 
here  of  a  morning,  with  the  mercury  shrunk  'way 
down  below  freezo,  to  find  every  spark  out,  and 
then  having  to  rasp  away  for  ten  minutes  or  so 
with  flint  and  steel !" 

"  Little  it  knew  about  kerosene,  either!" 

"No  ;  that  came  in  use  a  good  while  after  matches. 
Perhaps  people  got  through  living  here  before  it 
was  used  at  all." 

Our  fire  looked  pretty  small  in  that  big  chimney, 
but  it  was  equal  to   frying  the  fish,  and  they  did 

267 


268  O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T. 

beautifully.  While  Joe  was  attending  to  that  I  ex- 
tracted a  few  of  the  ancient  nails,  and,  with  them 
and  some  cord  I  had,  I  hung  the  tent  and  sail  so 
they  could  drip  and  dry  as  much  as  they  would  ; 
then  I  stretched  up  the  blankets  in  front  of  the 
fireplace. 

There  was  nothing  to  sit  down  on,  but  that  didn't 
trouble  us  long.  I  knocked  a  couple  of  flat  stones 
out  of  the  front  corner  of  the  chimney,  where  they 
had  been  laid  in  together  a  little  more  than  a  foot 
above  the  hearth.  One  end  of  one  of  the  floor-boards 
was  wedged  into  this  place,  and  the  other  was 
propped  on  the  remnant  of  the  spinning-wheel, 
which  I  brought  down  from  above  ;  and  there  was 
a  bench  that  would  hold  us,  and  three  or  four 
more,  if  they'd  been  there. 

I  don't  believe  a  breakfast  was  ever  more  en- 
joyed in  that  old  kitchen.  We  had  fish,  dough- 
nuts, cheese,  crackers  and  huckleberry  pie ;  and 
might  have  had  eggs,  if  we'd  wanted.  It's  pretty 
certain  the  folks  who  used  to  live  there  would  have 
been  surprised  if  they  could  have  foreseen  that 
breakfast,  and  taken  in  the  whole  look  of  the  place, 
with  our  tents  and  blankets  strung  about, —  part  of 
the  floor  ripped  up  to  do  the  cooking  and  another 
part  to  sit  down  on.  And  of  all  the  places  where 
we  had  breakfasted  since  we  stowed  away  Peggy's 
flapjacks,  this  was  the  queerest,  though  it  was  in  a 
house  and  the  others  were  out-doors. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT,  269 

After  the  fish  were  cooked,  we  had  piled  on  the 
rest  of  the  wood  and  it  blazed  finely  while  we  were 
eating,  so  the  blankets  steamed,  and  we  edged  to 
the  farther  end  of  our  bench ;  the  place  didn't  seem 
nearly  as  dismal  as  at  first.  We  heard  some  friends 
of  the  ill-fated  Peter,  down  below,  after  a  while ; 
but  this  time  our  blood  didn't  freeze  worth  a  cent. 
Perhaps  they'd  got  some  notion  that  eating  was 
going  on,  and  were  willing  to  help. 

We  didn't  hurry  with  our  breakfast,  for  there  was 
nothing  very  inspiring  in  the  idea  of  cruising  in 
rainy  weather  !  and  when  we  did  get  up,  and  begin 
to  rearranee  our  bag's,  and  feel  of  the  blankets  to 
see  how  they  were  drying,  the  rain  suddenly  set  in 
heavier  than  ever.  It  had  been  growing  dark  the 
last,  few  minutes  ;  but  we  hadn't  thought  much  of  it. 
So  we  waited  for  the  shower  to  let  up,  before  start- 
ing- 

In  a  minute,  the  slow  drip-drip  from  a  dozen  or 

two  places  overhead,  turned  to  little  jets  and  stream- 
lets, which  spattered  on  our  bench,  and  all  around. 
We  rushed  for  our  waterproofs,  which  I  had  hung 
on  some  nails  that  stood  out  already  for  them  in 
the  closet;  but  they  were  uncomfortable  to  sit  in, 
and  another  bright  idea  popped  into  Joe's  head.  He 
said  we  could  spread  the  waterproofs  on  the  floor 
above,  and  then  sit  at  our  ease. 

Well,  we  carried  it  out ;  —  partly  for  the  fun  of 
the  thinor,  for  it  did  seem  ridiculous  to  have  to  cover 


$?d  Ot/R  WEE  ft  AFLOAT. 

the  garret  floor,  to  keep  from  being  wet  through  in 
the  kitchen  and  I'made  the  thing  more  harmoni- 
ous by  speading  my  umbrella  while  we  were  at- 
tending to  it, —  and  there  was  reason,  too  ;  for  the 
water  just  poured  through  the  roof-cracks.  I 
pointed  out  to  Joe  the  place  where  I  dreamed  he 
smashed  through. 

"I'm  glad  it  isn't  so,"  said  I,  "for  you  carried 
away  pretty  nearly  all  this  side  of  the  roof." 

He  guessed  I'd  have  had  a  worse  dream  than 
that,  if  I'd  been  washed  down-stream, — but  I  don't 
know.  The  lively  part  then  would  have  come  after 
waking  up. 

Our  bench,  and  the  region  around  it  in  front  of 
the  fireplace,  was  now  free  from  drip,  and  we  sat 
down  to  wait  events.  The  water  ran  down  the 
side  of  the  chimney  in  quite  a  little  stream,  and 
soaked  in  between  the  hearth-stones ;  it  didn't  drop 
into  the  fire  much,  as  the  wind  gave  it  a  slant;  but 
we  poked  the  embers  a  little  nearer  the  front,  and 
laid  on  what  fragments  of  wood  were  within  reach  ; 
we  didn't  need  it  to  keep  us  warm,  but  it  looked 
pleasant,  and  drove  off  the  damp  feeling. 

The  down-pour  slackened  up,  and  the  sky  grew 
lighter ;  but  there  was  still  quite  a  patter. 

"This  is  a  south-easter!"  said  Joe.  "'Open  and 
shet's  a  sign  of  wet '; — and  there'll  be  such  showers 
every  few  minutes,  for  may  be  half  a  day  yet. 
We're  more  c@mfortable  here,  than  we'd  be  brushing 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  271 

through  the  dripping  trees,  with  the  boat  all  wet, 
and  having  to  bail  her  out  every  quarter  of  an  hour. 
I  move  we  wait  till  we're  pretty  sure  the  rain's 
over." 

'Twas  well  enough  we  did ;  for  soon  it  darkened 
up  again,  so  the  fire  shed  quite  a  bright,  cheerful 
light  around  ;  then  the  clouds  let  loose  once  more, 
— not  as  hard,  perhaps,  but  it  lasted  longer,  so  our 
wood  was  about  used  up.  As  soon  as  that  shower 
held  up,  we  went  into  the  east  rooms  with  the 
hatchet,  and  hacked  and  ripped  away  at  the  dry 
places  till  we  had  enough  to  fill  the  fireplace  "  chock 
up,"  if  we'd  put  it  all  in  at  once. 

"We're  the  last  people  to  live  here,"  said  Joe, 
"and  we'll  work  the  old  place  for  all  it's  worth." 

It  must  have  been  a  deal  more  trouble  to 
build  that  house,  than  it  would  be  to  put  up  one 
like  it  now  ;  and  I  wonder  how  they'd  have  felt  when 
they  were  laying  that  chimney,  if  they'd  been  told 
that  the  timbers  and  laths  which  were  hewed  and 
split  with  so  such  labor,  would  be  broken  up  to 
make  a  fire  in  it.  But  all  houses  must  end  in  some 
way  ;  and  this  was  better  than  to  burn  up  without 
doing  anybody  any  good,  the  way  most  do. 

"  Let's  play  tens,"  said  Joe,  taking  out  his  knife, 
and  opening  it  half-way. 

In  case  you've  never  played  it,  I'll  just  say  that 
you  give  your  knife  a  little  pitch  in  the  air,  so  it'll 
whirl  once  or  twice,  and  come  down  with  the  point 


2?S 


OVR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


sticking  in  the  board  or  log  you're  sitting  on.  If  it 
comes  down  on  the  handle,  or  in  some  way  so  it 
falls  over  without  sticking,  the  other  fellow  takes 
his  turn.  If  the  point  sticks  in,  with  the  end  of  the 
handle  touching  the  board,  that's  ten ;  if  it  sticks 
with  the  handle  in  the  air,  you  count  as  many  tens 
as  you  can  get  fingers  between  it  and  the  board  ; — 
and  in  either  case  you  keep  up  your  play,  till  you 
let  the  knife  fall  over.  The  "game"  is  generally 
a  thousand. 


There's  a  throw  which  is  sometimes  allowed  to 
count  for  a  hundred, —  when  the  knife  happens  to 
lie  on  the  back  of  the  handle  without  falling  over, 
but  that  depends  on  the  build  of  the  knife ;  some- 
times it  comes  that  way  so  often  it  wouldn't  be  fair 
to  count  it. 

It's  a  game  I  don't  think  much  of,  anymore  than 
marbles  ;  it  seems  too  still  and  poky  for  an  out-door 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  273 

play ;  but  this  was  just  the  time  and  place  for  it. 
So  we  took  our  places  on  a  soft  board,  and  Joe  gave 
the  first  toss.  We  each  took  several  turns  before 
anything  was  counted  ;  and  even  when  we  had  "got 
the  hang"  we  didn't  seem  to  get  along  very  fast; 
for  though  it  was  a  big,  heavy  knife,  he'd  cut  out  so 
many  fish-fins  with  it  lately  that  it  was  hard  for  it 
to  stick  even  in  a  half-rotten  old  board  like  this.  So 
after  the  first  game,  we  took  mine,  and  then  it  was 
more  interesting1.  We  counted  the  "hundred" 
throw,  with  Joe's  knife,—  anything  to  get  ahead  ;  — 
but  with  mine  we  had  to  give  that  up  ;  for  Joe  got 
so  he  could  make  it  about  once  in  three  times. 

We  played  six  games,  and  Joe  beat  in  four;  by 
that  time  it  seemed  more  like  clearing  up  than  it 
had  yet ;  so  we  folded  the  blankets,  which  had  lost 
the  greater  part  of  their  moisture,  and  the  tent  and 
sail,  which  still  held  a  pretty  good  share  ;  to  be  sure, 
they  had  more  to  start  with.  But  the  weather 
shifted  so  quickly,  that  by  the  time  we  were  ready 
to  start,  the  sun  had  given  up  all  idea  of  breaking 
through  ; —  and  we  heard  a  low  bellow  of  thunder, 
which  didn't  seem  intended  to  invite  us  forth. 

So  we  waited  a  bit,  to  see  what  it  did  mean  ;  and 
soon  another  showed  that  it  was  coming  our  way. 
"  We'll  let  that  beast  get  by! "  said  Joe. 

We  put  down  the  things,  and  settled  on  our 
bench  ;  —  and  before  the  next  peal  came  a  glimmer 
of  lightning.  Then  I  remembered  having  read 
somewhere  that  you  can  tell  the  distance  of  light- 

18 


274  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

ning  by  counting  the  seconds  between  the  flash  and 
the  thunder. 

Y  mentioned  this  to  Joe,  who  straightway  got  out 
his  Waterbury,  and  held  it  all  ready  ;  while  I  fin- 
gered my  pulse,  which  I  knew  averaged  a  little 
faster  than  once  a  second,  —  about  seventy-five  a 
minute.  -With  the  next  flash  we  began  counting; 
and  just  as  I  came  to  eight,  the  rumbling  began. 
Joe  called  out  "  seven  !  "  But  the  loudest  of  it  came 
a  moment  later ;  and  then  it  growled  itself  away  by 
degrees  into  nothing. 

"Where  do  you  stop, — the  beginning,  or  the 
biggest  crack  ?  "    inquired  Joe. 

I  said  the  beginning  came  from  the  nearest  point 
of  the  flash,  and  that  was  what  we  cared  about. 
Then  I  calculated  :  sound  travels  about  twelve  hun- 
dred feet  a  second,  I  remembered  (1090  feet  with 
the  air  at  the  freezing  point);  1200  times  8  are 
9600.  Here  came  another  flash,  but  it  was  feebler, 
and  I  didn't  stop  to  count,  —  a  mile  is  5280 feet; — 
'twas  nearly  two  miles  off. 

Then  there  was  a  pretty  sharp  flash,  with  a  rat- 
tling peal,  —  scarcely  three  seconds  after,  Joe  said. 
That  was  within  a  mile.  The  storm  was  right  on 
the  road  for  us ;  now  the  rain  began  to  come  down 
heavily. 

The  next  gleam  was  dazzling-  and  a  tremendous 
crash  followed  right  after  it,  so  that  Joe  admitted 
that  it  was  shorter  than  his  watch  would  note  ;  and 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


275 


I  shouldn't  wonder  if  my  pulse  beat  too  quick  time 
for  close  reckoning  for  a  few  moments  after  that 
crack.  The  rain  kept  pouring  in  fine  style  for  some 
time,  but  there  were  only  three  or  four  more  claps, 
and  these  not  so  near. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Joe  said  it  reminded  him  of  a  time  when  he  went 
fishing  in  Connecticut,  two  summers  before.  He 
and  his  two  cousins,  Dave  and  Fred,  went  about  two 
miles,  to  "  Spectacle  Pond,"  as  it  was  called.  It  was 
something  like  Glenn's  Pond,  only  more  so,  for  the 
narrow  part  of  it  was  a  mere  creek,  about  an  eighth 
of  a  mile  long.  It  was  like  two  ponds  strung  to- 
gether. They  started  after  dinner,  to  make  an 
afternoon  of  it. 

"  They  let  me  have  the  biggest  rod, — 'twas  a 
bamboo  pole,  near  twenty  feet  long.  That  was  very 
polite  of  them,  I  knew  ;  but  after  a  while  I  didn't 
appreciate  it  so  much.  The  fish  weren't  biting 
lively,  by  any  means,  and  it  got  to  be  tedious  busi- 
ness holding  that  pole  straight  out,  for  we  hadn't 
any  boat,  but  stood  on  the  bank  and  reached  as  far 
as  we  could,  to  get  our  hooks  into  deep  water. 

"  Well,  that  pole  grew  heavier  than  you'd  think 
— -it  seemed  light  as  could  be  when  I  began,  —  so 
I  let  the  end  down  in  the  water  ;  it  was  hollow, 
you  know,  and  buoyed  up  first-rate,  and  that  was 
nice  and  easy  for  a  time.  They  told  me,  though, 
'twouldn't  pay  ;  the  bamboo  would  soak  like  a 
sponge,  and  so  it  did ;  when  I  lifted  it  out  it  was  a 

276 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


277 


deal  worse  than   before.     So  after  a  little  while  I 
let  it  slump  in  again. 

"I'd  only  caught  one  fish,  a  shiner  ;  the  others  had 
three  or  four  apiece  ;  they  were  more  used  to  that 
sort  of  fishing.  When  I  tried  to  hold  out  my  pole 
again  it  was  'most  as  heavy  as  our  mast.     I  saw  it 

wouldn't  do  to  let 
that  go  on,  so  I 
knocked  off  awhile; 
and  set  to  building 
a  little  wharf  of 
stones  and  sand,  so  I 
could  reach  farther 
out.  We  didn't  like 
to  stand  in  the  water, 
for  they  said  there 
were  'bloodsuckers' 
(leeches)  in  the  pond. 
"  In  time  the  fish 
seemed  to  find  out 
there  was  something 
going  on  over  our 
way,  and  began  com- 
ing around  to  see 
about  it ;  at  any  rate 
the  boys  were  hauling  them  in  faster,  and  I  thought 
I  would  try  my  luck  again.  But  I  had  to  groan 
when  I  felt  the  heft  of  the  pole ;  and  Dave, — he 


278  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

was  a  stout  fellow,  a  year  older  than  I, — was  good- 
natured  enough  to  offer  to  change  with  me. 

'"'His  pole  was  all  right  as  to  weight,  but  it  had 
been  broken  off  near  the  middle,  and  spliced  together 
again  with  five  or  six  yards  of  fish-line  wound  around. 
But  of  course  I  didn't  care  for  looks,  and  soon  I 
hauled  in  a  bull-pout,  and  kept  on  till  I  had  four, 
besides  a  perch  and  the  shiner. 

"  By  this  time,  we'd  been  there  about  two  hours ; 
it  was  hot  and  still,  same  as  yesterday  afternoon. 
There  were  high  trees  most  of  the  way  around  the 
pond,  so  we  couldn't  see  the  sky  down  toward  the 
horizon,  except,  out  east,  where  the  water  stretched 
away  ;  so  we  didn't  notice  the  clouds  creeping  up 
but  all  at  once  the  sun  stopped  shining,  and  we 
heard  the  thunder  muttering,  'way  off. 

"  I  heard  it  coming  nearer,  and  thought  'twas  time 
for  us  to  start,  but  the  others  were  having  good  fun, 
and  the  afternoon  was  hardly  half  over.  They 
wanted  to  get  good  big  strings,  Fred  especially  ;  he 
said  we  needn't  mind  a  little  sprinkling,  we  could 
run  'tween  the  drops,  if  it  came  our  way,  and  he 
didn't  believe  it  would.  I  saw  he  didn't  want  to 
believe  it,  anyway. 

"Well,  the  thunder  grew  louder  and  louder,  and 
the  lightning  began  to  show  up  ;  so  finally  they  were 
ready  to  leave.  The  way  home  led  across  lots, 
through  some  woods  and  across  lots  again,  without 
a  house  anywhere  near,  for  the  first  mile.      We 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  279 

hadn't  got  far  when  the  rain  began  to  patter  down 
in  great  drops,  and  Fred  wanted  us  to  run  for  a 
big  oak  at  the  edge  of  the  pasture,  and  take  shel- 
ter under  it ;  but  just  then  there  crinkled  down  a 
savage-looking  streak  of  chain-lightning, —  we  all 
saw  it ;  and  a  terrific  clap  followed,  next  moment, 
that  made  us  feel  rather  shaky. 

"  Then  I  told  them,  it  had  been  observed  and  put 
on  record,  that  oak  trees  had  been  struck  oftener 
than  all  other  kinds  together  ;  and  it  was  dangerous 
to  be  near  any  kind  of  tree  in  a  thunder-storm.  So 
we  gave  a  wide  berth  to  the  oak. 

"  Now  the  rain  poured  down  in  torrents  ;  we  ran, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  though  we  might  just  as  well 
have  taken  it  easy.  Talk  about  running  'tween 
the  drops  !  we  hit  enough  of  'em  to  do  for  us  ;  in 
three  minutes  we  couldn't  be  wetter. 

"  A  little  house  showed  suddenly  through  the  thick 
rain,  a  few  yards  ahead,  but  we  didn't  think  of  try- 
ing to  get  under  cover  there.  'Twas  a  powder-house, 
where  they  stored  powder,  a  long  way  from  where 
it  would  be  likely  to  do  any  harm  if  it  went  off  ; 
we  had  passed  near  by  it,  coming  out,  and  Dave 
had  told  me  about  it,  and  how  there  was  ten  thou- 
sand pounds  of  powder  in  there  —  so  he  said  — 
that  belonged  to  the  militia.  And  now,  as  we 
caught  sight  of  it,  another  streak  had  to  tear  down 
with  a  crash  fit  to  take  your  head  off,  and  we 
didn't    know    at    first   but    the    plaguy  thing  had 


28o  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"busted".;  it  couldn't  have  made  much  more 
racket.  So  we  dodged  one  side  and  made  a  curve 
to  the  left,  in  case  the  next  bolt  should  touch  her 
off. 

"  Then  we  came  to  the  little  patch  of  woods,  with 
a  narrow  path  winding  through  it.  I  had  scared 
them  about  trees ;  so  when  there  pealed  out 
another  ripper  just  as  we  were  going  in,  Dave  sung 
out  '  Now  let's  clip  it  through  these  woods  like 
everything  ! '  and  tore  ahead  like  mad,  with  Fred 
after  him. 

"  I  was  about  winded ;  and  just  then  there  came 
something  else  into  my  head,  that  I  had  heard  or  read 
of, —  it  seemed  as  though  I  knew  too  much,  or  not 
enough,  I  couldn't  make  out  which, —  only  there  was 
no  being  safe,  any  thing  you  might  do.  What  I 
thought  of  was,  that  a  body  moving  rapidly  is  more 
likely  to  get  struck,  because  the  air  is  a  little 
thinner  just  behind, —  in  the  wake,  you  might  say, — 
and  the  lightning  takes  the  easiest  path,  and  fol- 
lows it  right  up.  I  think  that's  only  a  notion,  that's 
never  been  proved  ;  for  I  never  heard  of  a  railway 
train  being  struck,  and  that  ought  to  stand  as  a 
good  chance  as  anything. 

"Anyway,  I  tried  to  yell  it  to  Dave  ;  but  I  was 
too  much  out  of  breath,  and  they  were  plunging 
along  ten  rods  ahead.  I  tagged  after,  trying  to 
keep  them  in  sight  and  to  steer  my  rod  clear  of 
obstacles,  as  the  path  turned;  —  in  a  minute  I  ran 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


281 


it  against  a  tree,  lance  fashion,  and  broke  it  short 
off  three  or  four  feet  from  the  tip  ;  it  was  wound 
with  line,  as  I  said,  which  went  beyond  the  break, 
and  was  finally  tied  fast  about  the  middle  of  the 
piece  and  that  came  off.  So  that  just  unwound  ; 
and  the  thing  dragged  and  skipped  crossways  in  the 
rear,  catching  first  one  end,  then  the  other;  but  I 
held  with  a  desperate  grip  to  the  main  part  of  the 
rod,  and  the  line  didn't  give  way. 

"  I  dragged  anchor 
through  the  last  third 
of  the  woods,  and  came 
up  with  the  others 
where  they  were  walk- 
ing along  beyond  ;  at 
last  they  saw  no  use  in 
running  any  longer. 
We  had  to  laugh  when 
we  looked  at  each  other; 
our  clothes  hung  like 
bathing  suits  ;  the  brim 
of  Dave's  old  felt  hat 
was  beaten  down,  and 
all  our  hats  were  drip- 
ping like  umbrellas  ;  if 
anybody  ever  looked  like  drowned  rats,  we  did 
then.  The  field  was  covered  an  inch  or  two 
with  water  that  hadn't  had  time  to  soak  in  ;  it  was 
like  that  place  where  we  hauled  the  boat  through 


282  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

the  grass,  and  we  splashed  along  in  it  the  same  way. 
We  said  it  wouldn't  do  to  let  our  fish  drop,  for  they 
could  swim  right  off ; — and  I  remember  thinking 
with  a  sort  of  envy  that  the  fish  in  the  pond  didn't 
mind  the  storm  a  bit  — 'twas  all  the  same  to  them. 
"  Neither  did  the  people  in  the  house  we  now  saw 
ahead ;  and  we'd  have  been  glad  enough  to  make 
for  it  if  the  rain  had  just  started  ;  but  as  it  was,  the 
storm  was  beginning  to  let  up ;  and  we  sneaked 
around  back  to  that  house,  out  of  sight,  and  came 
into  the  road  a  good  ways  below.  Dave  and  Fred 
knew  the  fellows  there,  and  didn't  want  to  hear  any 
remarks  ! " 

"  What'd  they  say,  when  you  got  home  ?" 
"  O,  Aunt  Townley  was  pretty  mad  when  she 
saw  us,  and  said  we'd  got  to  go  to  bed  right  off, 
and  stay  there  —  so  we  did,  and  had  a  jolly  time 
whanging  each  other  with  pillows.  It  turned  out 
that  Uncle  saw  us  from  the  window  of  the  barn, 
where  he  was  sharpening  tools,  and  had  a  good 
laugh  over  the  figure  we  cut ;  perhaps  he  spoke  a 
good  word  for  us  ;  anyhow  they  let  us  get  up  in  an 
hour  or  so,  and  Fred  lent  me  his  best  suit.  We 
cleaned  our  fish,  and  had  'em  for  supper  ;  and  they 
were  good  ;  they'd  had  no  chance  to  get  dry,  like 
those  we  had  this  morning." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

All  at  once  something  came  tumbling  down  the 
chimney  into  the  fire.  We  weren't  looking,  and  it 
startled  us  a  little  when  it  lit  among  the  embers, 
and  set  the  sparks  flying. 

It  looked  like  a  good-sized  lump  of  dirt ;  but 
when  we  picked  it  up,  we  saw  it  was  a  nest  —  a 
chimney-swallow's  nest — of  sticks  and  grass  stuck 
together  with  a  kind  of  glue.  It  had  been  fastened 
to  the  stones  inside,  up  toward  the  top  ;  and  the 
water  running  down  had  washed  it  loose.  'Twas 
lucky  for  the  swallows  that  their  family  had  been 
raised,  and  taken  wing  ;  if  it  had  been  spring-time, 
there'd  have  been  "  dropped  eggs  "  for  us,  only  it 
wouldn't  have  been  easy  to  dish  them  up. 

I  had  noticed  quite  a  bunch  at  the  side  of  the 
chimney,  when  we  had  looked  up  the  evening  be- 
fore ;  but  thought  it  was  one  of  the  stones.  I 
looked  again  now,  and  it  was  gone.  It  seemed  to 
us  a  queer  place  to  live  ;  perhaps  the  warm  draught 
was  what  they  liked,  but  with  it  they  had  to  stand 
the  smoke  —  still,  there's  nothing  like  being  brought 
up  to  a  thing,  and  perhaps  when  they  first  flew  out, 
they  thought  the  air  outside  was  too  fresh,  and 
needed  seasoning. 

Joe  spoke  of  the  barn  we  had  seen  the  evening 

283 


284  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

before,  and  said  it  would  be  a  shame  not  to  explore 
that  too,  when  we  were  sitting  around  close  by, 
doing-  nothing.  So  we  set  out  with  the  umbrella  — 
for  the  waterproofs  were  needed  to  keep  the  house 
dry  —  and  when  shortly  the  barn  came  in  sight,  it 
didn't  look  so  ruined  and  forsaken  as  the  house,  by 
considerable.  You  don't  expect  so  much  of  a  barn, 
though  ;  if  there's  no  paint,  and  not  much  in  the 
way  of  windows,  you're  not  surprised  ;  and  you 
don't  mind  if  there's  nobody  to  answer  the  bell. 

But  here  there  wasn't  even  a  door  ;  and  though 
there  were  no  big  breaks  in  the  roof,  'twas  like  a 
starlit  sky,  when  we  went  in  and  looked  up.  Four 
stalls  stood  across  one  end  ;  they  were  occupied, 
not  by  cows  or  horses,  but  by  half  a  dozen  pigs, 
who  looked  interested  and  said  good-day,  but  didn't 
seem  at  all  afraid.  They  were  beginning  to  feel 
acquainted,  I  suppose.  There  was  a  floor  under 
the  stalls,  which  reached  across  in  front  of  the  door; 
the  rest  was  bare  ground,  and  above  on  that  side 
was  a  hay-loft,  with  a  few  boards  left,  stretching 
across. 

It  didn't  take  long  to  see  all  there  was  ;  and  we 
made  up  our  minds  the  house  was  more  comfort- 
able, as  we  could  have  a  fire  there  ;  so  we  left  the 
pigs  in  undisturbed  possession,  carrying  away  two 
or  three  loose  boards  to  split  up. 

The  rain  still  pattered  down,  and  there  was  no 
prospect  of  any  change  at  present.     We  overhauled 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


2S5 


our  accounts, —  Joe  had  paid  for  some  butter  and 
brown  bread,  and  I  had  paid  for  the  things  at  Hol- 
lisville  ;  and  now  we  squared  up.  We  went  up 
stairs  and  pored  over  the  names  written  around, 
but  found  none  we  knew  except  those  of  the  Hol- 
comb  boys.     Ben's  was  scrawled  in  three  different 


/*OUc> 


places.  There  were  faces,  too  ;  may  be  the  writers 
meant  them  for  their  own  portraits,  but  it's  to  be 
hoped  that  nobody  who  ever  lived  looked  like  them. 
There  was  a  vacant  space  of  plaster  in  the  north- 
east room,  nearly  a  yard  square,  and  we  put  down 


286 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


our  names  arid  the  date  in  elegant  style  as  time 
was  no  object  just  then.  Joe  was  famous  among 
the  boys  for  the  way  he  could  print  in  "Old  Eng- 
lish ";  and  he  drew  up  a  grand  inscription,  with 
scrolls  and  flourishes  all  around,  and  took  up  the 
whole  space,  and  made  all  the  other  scribblings 
look  pretty  cheap,  I  tell  you.  It  read  this  way, 
starting  right  under  our  names  : 


Gommanoers 

of  tbe 

Triton  ]££plorina  EspeMtion, 
Gbe  jFtrst  witbin  tbe  /Remote  of  dfcan 

to  IRcacb  tbfa  point 

from  tbe  Sea  bg  Water. 


It  looked  very  imposing ;  but,  as  like  as  not, 
whoever  saw  it  afterward  took  it  for  a  piece  of 
vaporing  instead  of  solid  fact. 

Joe  came  across  an  old  pair  of  trowsers,  in  a  dark 
corner,  and  poked  them  out  into  the  light  "  to  see 
if  they  belonged  to  the  first  settler,"  he  said. 
"  Perhaps  the  cloth  was  spun  on  that  identical 
wheel ! " 

But  I  didn't  think  it  likely  they  spun  fancy  cassi- 
meres  on  it ;  the  first  settler,  too,  would  have  worn 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  287 

"  knee-breeches " ;  and  though  these  were  well 
fringed  around  the  bottom,  and  would  have  been 
knee-breeches  in  a  little  longer  wearing,  they  plainly 
beoan  their  career  as  "  lone  trowsers,"  and  finished 
it,  as  like  as  not,  on  some  tramp  of  the  present  day. 
So  he  kicked  them  back  into  the  corner. 

We  had  risen  later  than  usual  that  morning,  and 
it  was  now  past  noon  ;  so  we  had  dinner,  the  prin- 
cipal dish  being  the  pickerel,  reserved  from  break- 
fast. We  used  some  of  the  milk  in  making  a  cup 
apiece  of  hot  chocolate,  and  it  was  good,  you  may 
believe. 

Then  we  got  so  tired  of  being  penned  up,  that  we 
about  made  up  our  minds  to  start  in  the  rain,  after 
all.  Joe  said  it  was  the  wettest  rain  he  ever  saw, — 
'"  except  that  one  at  Spectacle  Pond,"  I  suggested. 

"  Yes,  but  there  was  some  let  up  to  that.  This 
comes  down  as  easy  as  though  it  had  just  started  ; 
it  seems  to  think  itself  the  regular  and  only  thing, 
like  the  rainy  season  in  the  tropics.  I  guess  that 
moon  we  saw  the  other  niofht  meant  something,  after 
all!" 

But  we  hadn't  seen  the  worst  of  it,  yet ;  it  came 
on  a  few  minutes  afterward.  First  it  began  to 
thunder  and  lighten  a^ain,  and  before  lontr  it  was 
flashing  and  banging  away  at  a  pretty  good  rate. 
We  went  up  stairs,  where  we  could  lookout  toward 
the  southeast,  and  saw  the  rain  coming  in  a  solid 
sheet,  shutting  out  one  range  of  trees  after  another  ; 


2  88  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

soon  it  began  streaming  so  fast  through  the  roof 
cracks  that  we  were  driven  down  stairs  again. 

ft  was  dark  enough  down  there  then ;  but  in  a 
few  seconds  came  a  glare  that  seemed  to  blaze  all 
over  the  room,  and  almost  before  we  could  wink, 
the  thunder  went  off  like  a  cannon.  It  fairly  stunned 
us,  and  I  thought  for  a  moment  that  it  had  demol- 
ished the  old  bungalow,  and  us  with  it. 

It  didn't  take  long,  of  course,  for  us  to  find  out 
that  we  still  held  together  ;  but  by  the  way  the 
water  streamed  down  into  the  room,  it  seemed  as 
though  what  was  left  of  the  roof  must  have  been 
carried  away.  The  waterproofs  still  kept  their 
place,  though,  and  sheltered  the  space  beneath. 

"We're  safe  now!"  declared  Joe;  "if  it  didn't 
strike  here,  it  must  have  close  by,  and  it  won't  come 
so  near  again." 

It  stayed  'round  that  neighborhood  for  quite  a 
while,  however,  and  there  were  two  or  three  split- 
ting cracks;  —  but  the  way  the  rain  kept  up  was 
what  surprised  us  —  the  same  tremendous  pour,  right 
along.  We  heard  complaints  from  the  pigs,  down 
cellar,  and  judged  it  was  getting  too  deep  for  them  ; 
but  there  was  plenty  of  room  outside  where  they 
could  still  touch  bottom,  and  a  washing  would  do 
them  no  harm,  anyway. 

"Joe,  this'll  fill  our  boat!" 

"That's  so  —  but  there  isn't  much  inside;  the 
oars  and  spars,  and  the  tent-stakes  ;  but  water  won't 
hurt  them." 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  289 

"  No  ;  but  we  don't  want  them  to  float  out  and 
away,  and  there's  the  lantern  and  feeder  in  the 
locker, —  still,  that  doesn't  matter  much  ;  but  what 
bothers  me  is,  that  the  river's  filling  up,  too.  If 
there's  much  of  a  current,  it  may  carry  her  down." 

He  didn't  believe  that  could  be  ;  for  not  only 
was  she  fastened  to  the  stake,  but  the  grapnel  was 
up  ashore,  with  the  flukes  well  planted.  But  we 
both  felt  rather  anxious  ;  and  when  in  about  half  an 
hour  the  rain  suddenly  seemed  exhausted,  and 
stopped  almost  altogether,  we  went  up-stairs  for  our 
waterproofs.  It  was  as  wet  up  there  as  though 
there  hadn't  been  any  roof  at  all ;  still  there  was  as 
much  as  before,  for  all  we  could  see,  and  it  was 
pretty  certain  the  lightning  hadn't  touched  it. 

"  It's  because  there  ain't  any  lightning-rods,"  as- 
serted Joe;  "that's  what  saved  it !  " 

There  had  been  three  houses  struck,  near  Pier- 
haven,  in  the  last  two  years  ;  — one  in  February  !  — 
and  they  all  had  lightning-rods,  but  Uncle  Andrew 
said  they  weren't  fixed  right.  He  said  that  good- 
sized  copper-rods,  well  insulated,  and  leading  off  to 
running  water,  would  be  good  protection  ; — but  you 
don't  often  find  them  that  way. 


19 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

We  started  out ;  and  now  it  seemed  less  rainy  out- 
side than  in,  with  the  water  dripping  from  the  ceil- 
ing all  around.  We  walked  rapidly  down  through 
the  orchard,  and  when  we  came  in  sight  of  the 
stream,  how  wide  it  was !  away  up  over  the  bank, 
with  a  swift  muddy  current ;  —  and  no  sign  of  the 
boat  to  be  seen  ! 

We  were  frightened  then,  and  no  mistake;  if  the 
Triton  should  go  over  the  dam  at  Odell's,  that 
would  be  "  the  last  of  her,"  as  Tom  had  said  of  his 
boat.  Besides  there  was  that  short  piece  of  rapids 
not  far  below,  where  the  water  rushed  down  over 
the  rocks. 

We  followed  along  as  near  as  we  could,  though 
in  some  places  the  water  ponded  away  out  over  the 
meadows  ;  still  the  trees  were  not  thick,  and  we  could 
have  seen  the  boat  if  she  had  drifted  ashore  any- 
where. 

At  the  rapids  the  stream  wasn't  so  much  wider 
than  usual,  for  there  was  a  little  valley  here,  with 
high  banks ;  but  it  was  filled  so  full  we  wouldn't 
have  known  there  were  any  rocks  there,  if  we  hadn't 
seen  them  the  day  before  ;  the  turbid  water  leaped 
down  in  big  smooth  rollers,  without  foaming,  till  it 
reached  the  bottom.     To  think  that  the  Triton  had 

290 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  291 

plunged  down  that  torrent !  But,  as  Joe  said,  there 
was  a  deep  pool  at  the  foot,  and  if  she'd  got  through 
without  touching  the  rocks,  as  was  likely,  she 
wouldn't  be  hurt.  And  the  boy's  dam  wasn't  much 
to  be  dreaded,  —  but  the  one  at  Odell's  was  quite 
another  matter  ;  a  sheer  plunge  of  twenty  feet  to 
the  stones  below. 

"  Perhaps  the  Holcombs  have  caught  her,"  I 
ventured;  "  they  must  be  out  watching  their  dam." 

'■  I  hope  she  hasn't  smashed  into  their  water- 
wheel!"  rejoined  Joe.  "  That'd  finish  up  both 
concerns,  in  a  hurry  !  " 

When  we  reached  the  woods,  we  had  a  hard 
time  of  it  for  a  while.  The  stream  was  several 
yards  wide  ;  in  some  places  you  couldn't  tell  how 
wide  it  was,  or  where  the  middle  was,  for  it  flowed 
all  around  among  the  tree-trunks ;  but  we  felt 
bound  to  see  every  foot,  for  she'd  stop  along  here, 
if  anywhere.  We  waded  out  into  the  water,  pushing 
aside  the  wet  boughs  and  peering  here  and  there, 
and  several  times  we  climbed  up  among  the  slip- 
pery branches  and  dripping  leaves,  to  get  a  better 
view.  Now  and  then  we  saw  where  we  had  hacked 
our  way  the  day  before,  and  those  places  showed 
us  where  the  channel  went. 

We  spent  upward  of  an  hour  in  this  disheart- 
ening way,  without  seeing  anything  of  the  Triton. 
We  thought  we  must  be  nearly  down  to  the  step- 
ping-stones, and  below  them  there  was  nothing  to 


2Q2  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT: 

t» 

stop  her,  unless  the  water-wheel,  as  Joe  had  sug- 
gested. We  were  feeling  pretty  blue.  This  kind 
of  exploring — in  search  of  our  boat,  instead  of  in 
it  —  didn't  suit  our  ideas  at  all,  and  I  began  to  think 
how  it  would  seem  to  explore  down  below  for  her 
fragments, —  a  thwart  here,  a  piece  of  the  gunwale 
there. 

We  were  wet  to  our  waists,  and  nearly  tired  out. 
I  had  about  given  up  hope,  when  I  saw  a  piece  of 
rope  waving  in  the  water,  then  one  of  the  tent- 
stakes  to  which  it  was  fastened,  caught  across  a 
couple  of  trees  growing  close  together.  I  waded 
in  and  found  the  other  stake  floating,  still  fast  to 
the  other  end. 

I  don't  know  as  there  was  any  great  comfort  in 
this,  still  it  put  a  little  more  interest  into  the 
search  ;  and  I  was  just  going  to  call  out  to  Joe, 
who  was  some  little  distance  farther  down,  but  he 
o-ot  ahead  of  me.  "  Here  she  is  !  hurrah!  here  she 
is,  all  right ! "  I  heard  him  shout ;  and  perhaps  I 
didn't  rush  ! 

There  she  was,  a  little  to  one  side  of  the  channel, 
where  it  made  a  sudden  turn  ;  but  the  stream  now 
disregarded  the  curve,  and  washed  right  ahead  over 
the  bank.  She  was  tilted  up  sideways  against  a  tree, 
with  another  trunk  bracing  the  stern,  so  the  current 
held  her  fast ;  the  water  around  her  was  nearly  a 
foot  deep,  and  must  have  been  higher  still,  to  have 
put  her  there,  and  then  let  one  side  down. 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  293 

<• 

We  examined  her  carefully,  and  she  seemed  to 
be  sound,  except  for  several  "  dents "  and  rubbed 
places ;  we  couldn't  tell,  yet,  whether  she  was 
strained  enough  to  leak.  Two  of  the  three  oars 
were  still  aboard ;  we  had  stowed  them  in  the  bot- 
tom, and  the  "  fore-peak  "  and  after-thwart  had  held 
them  from  floating  out ;  the  short  steering-oar  was 
gone,  however,  and  so  were  the  mast  and  sprit,  the 
cot-stakes  and  bailing-pan  ;  but  we  scarcely  thought 
of  them,  overjoyed  as  we  were  to  find  our  boat  safe 
and  whole.  In  the  locker  were  the  lantern  and  oil- 
can, our  extra  rope  and  cord,  nails,  etc.,  and  the 
fish-lines  ;  all  thoroughly  wet,  of  course,  but  that 
wouldn't  hurt  them. 

It  was  out  of  the  question  to  take  her  back  to 
the  orchard,  against  the  current  there  was  running ; 
and  we  were  at  first  uncertain  what  to  do  next.  We 
thought  of  launching  her  into  the  channel  and  going 
farther  down  to  where  we  could  haul  her  out  on  the 
meadows,  but  then  we  would  have  to  carry  our  bags, 
blankets,  etc.,  some  distance  farther  before  we 
could  put  them  aboard, —  unless,  indeed,  we  went 
back  for  them  at  once,  and  then  went  down  with 
the  boat  and  made  a  camp  somewhere  below. 

joe  was  for  doing  this  ;  but  I  argued  that  we  were 
wet  already,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  keep  our 
blankets  dry  while  coming  down  through  the  woods, 
or  indeed  afterward,  the  boat  being  all  wet  inside ; 
and  the  rain  was  still  pattering  on  the  leaves,  with 


2Q4  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

no  sign  of  clearing  up.  There  was  no  sense  in 
being  damp  and  chilly  all  night,  when  we  could  sit 
by  t;he  fire  that  evening  at  the  house,  and  sling  our 
cots  from  the  ceiling. 

Joe  didn't  like  the  idea  of  sleeping  in  that  ruined, 
dismal  place,  instead  of  our  cosy  little  tents  ;  and 
neither  did  I,  for  that  matter  ;  but  he  admitted  that 
it  was  the  least  of  the  two  evils,  and  that  wet 
blankets,  might  prove  to  be  anything  but  cheerful. 

The  next  thing  was  to  put  the  Triton  in  as  good 
shape  as  we  could.  We  righted  her,  and  towed  her 
farther  in  among  the  trees ;  it  was  then  we  found 
the  anchor-rope  had  parted.  That  must  have  been 
done  at  the  rapids ;  if  it  had  caught  anywhere  else, 
it  would  have  held  her,  we  thought.  The  painter 
hadn't  parted,  but  the  stake  had  pulled  right  up, 
and  was  still  fast  at  the  end  ;  I  had  driven  that  stake 
pretty  firmly,  I  thought,  but  very  likely  the  earth 
was  washed  away  from  around  it. 

If  we  pulled  her  too  far  in,  it  would  be  more  work 
to  get  her  into  the  stream,  next  morning ;  still  we 
wanted  her  to  be  out  of  the  current,  in  case  of 
another  freshet.  We  stopped  at  a  place  about  ten 
yards  from  where  we  found  her;  the  water  there 
was  three  or  four  inches  deep,  and  we  could  tip  out 
the  greater  part  of  what  was  inside. 

We  looked  out  for  good-sized  trees  which  would 
be  handy  for  mooring  to  ;  such  as  wouldn't  be  likely 
to  pull  out,  like  the  stake ;  and  we  fastened  her  with 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  295 

the  painter,  with  what  was  left  of  the  "  keleg "  or 
anchor-rope,  and  with  a  short  spare  piece  from  the 
locker; — not  too  closely,  but  so  she  could  float 
higher,  if  the  water  rose. 

Then  we  took  the  lantern  to  light  up  with  in  the 
evening,  and  some  of  the  spare  rope,  and  started 
back  ;  Joe  "blazing"  a  path,  while  we  were  in  the 
woods,  by  shaving  off  pieces  of  bark  with  his  big 
knife  every  few  steps,  so  as  to  show  the  white  wood, 
and  mark  our  way  straight  to  the  boat  in  the  morn- 
ing. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

When  we  reached  the  orchard,  I  proposed  that 
we  should  go  on  and  see  how  the  falls  looked.  I 
thought  that  if  they  were  worth  seeing  the  day  be- 
fore, they  must  be  much  more  so  now. 

So  on  we  went,  leaving  our  waterproofs,  with  the 
lantern,  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  trees,  for  it  wasn't 
raining  much ;  but  when  we  came  to  Beames' 
Brook  we  were  brought  to  a  stand-still.  It  came 
rushing  in  at  a  great  rate,  curving  across  the  main 
stream  and  swirling  up  on  the  farther  bank,  so  that 
the  meeting-place  was  overflowed  for  the  space  of 
an  acre  or  thereabouts.  We  could  have  jumped 
the  brook  in  plenty  of  places  the  evening  before, 
but  there  was  no  such  thing  now. 

I  had  an  inspiration  this  time,  and  we  went  back 
a  little  way,  to  where  an  old  rail  fence  zig-zagged 
down  toward  the  river,  and  stopped  a  few  yards 
from  the  brink.  It  was  down  in  several  places,  and 
plainly  nobody  was  interested  in  keeping  it  up  ;  so 
we  had  no  scruples  about  making  a  raft  with  the  old 
rails,  on  which  we  embarked,  after  leaving  our  shoes 
in  a  corner  of  the  fence. 

It  wasn't  a  long  voyage,  but  we  were  rejoiced  to 
Sfet  through  with  it  no  wetter  than  when  we  started. 
The  raft  was  hardly   buoyant   enough   for  two  ;  of 

296 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


297 


course  we  didn't  mind  our  feet  being  in  the  water, 
but  we  had  to  balance.ourselves  almost  as  carefully 
as  though  we  were  on  a  tight-rope.  If  either  of  us 
made  a  step,  the  affair  would  sway  down  under  on 
one  side,  as  though  it  was  bound  to  slide  us  off. 
Then  we  had  nothing  but  rails  to  paddle  with —  the 
lightest  we  could  get,  but  clumsy  things  at  best. 
Every  time  we  ventured  to  use  one,  it  was  at  our 
peril,  and  we  drifted  half-way  back  before  we  made 
the  other  side. 


THE  RAFT  WAS  HARDLY  BUOYANT  ENOUGH  FOR  TWO. 

We  managed  to  land  without  shipwreck,  and  soon 
came  to  where  the  water  was  tearing  down  the  lonpf, 


2q8  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

rocky  slope;  we  had  heard  the  noise  away  back -to 
the  "forks";  and  no  wonder.  The  rocks  which  yes- 
terday stood  out  on  each  side  of  the  stream  were 
now  right  in  it,  with  the  torrent  plunging  and  spout- 
ing over  them  as  though  it  would  tear  them  up  and 
send  them  thundering  to  the  bottom. 

We  saw  away  by  which  we  could  spring  from  one 
stone  to  another  till  we  stood  on  a  rock  near  the 
middle  ;  and  it  seemed  really  terrific  to  look  up  the 
steep  ascent  and  see  that  water  pitching  down  at  us 
like  mad,  all  of  a  foam  and  splashing  up  in  spray 
every  few  feet.  We  could  see  up  quite  a  stretch, 
nearly  to  the  fall ;  but  trees  grew  across  so  as  to  hide 
that. 

In  a  few  minutes  we  scrambled  up  there;  and  its 
appearance  was  changed  entirely  ;  there  was  no  split 
now  in  the  upper  fall,  but  the  water  came  down  in 
two  solid  leaps,  with  a  mass  of  foam  and  spray 
between,  at  the  step.  We  didn't  like  it  as  well  this 
way  ;  it  was  a  show  of  force,  rather  than  beauty,  and 
the  water  was  turbid  and  yellow. 

We  went  up  the  rest  of  the  way,  but  found  no  place 
so  effective  as  where  we  stood  out  on  the  rock  near 
the  bottom  ;  and  we  stopped  there  again  a  little 
while  on  the  way  back. 

While  still  in  the  woods,  we  cut  some  saplings  to 
pole  our  raft  along  with  ;  the  rails  we  used  before 
were  now  added  to  the  others  beneath  us,  and  in 
re-crossing  we  got  along  easier ;  especially  as  we 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  299 

didn't  hurry,  but  drifted  down  half-way  to  the  orchard. 
Then  we  left  the  raft  to  its  fate,  and,  gathering  our 
various  goods,  made  our  way  up  to  the  old  house 
once  more. 

After  giving  the  fire  a  fresh  start,  we  went  around 
to  take  a  look  at  the  barn.  Here  was  the  light- 
ning's work,  sure  enough  !  There  was  a  big  jagged 
hole  in  the  roof,  and  some  boards  and  timbers  which 
had  been  torn  from  the  gable  were  scattered  on  the 
ground.  They  were  somewhat  blackened  ;  there 
would  have  been  a  fire,  perhaps,  if  that  deluge  hadn't 
been  pouring  at  the  same  time. 

Before  going  in,  we  gathered  a  few  apples  ;  they 
were  too  sour  for  us  in  their  natural  state,  but  we 
thought  they  might  be  better  roasted.  Several  of 
the  sweet  ones  which  I  had  in  my  pockets  the  even- 
ing before  had  tumbled  out  when  I  came  down  in 
a  heap  at  the  foot  of  the  cellar  stairs,  and  I  didn't 
think  to  pick  them  up.  No  doubt  they  had  been 
attended  toby  the  regular  lodgers,  but  I  had  saved 
the  rest,  and  Joe  had  all  of  his;  and  we  ranged 
them  in  a  circle  on  the  hearth-stones,  close  to  the 
fire,  where  they  soon  began  to  send  out  a  pleasant 
odor. 

Then  I  examined  the  lantern,  and  tried  to  see  if 
it  would  light ;  but  it  spluttered  and  didn't  seem 
willing,  so  I  pulled  the  wick  out  and  put  it  back 
with  the  other  end  up ,  then  it  burned  well  enough. 
I  put  it  out  and  set  it  on  one  of  the  closet  shelves. 


joo  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

On  the  lower  shelf  were  our  "  dry  goods"  which 
I  had  rolled  up  closely  and  placed  there  when  we 
started  out  to  look  after  the  boat.  As  I  expected, 
the  upper  shelves  had  kept  ofPthe  drip,  and  both 
blankets  and  cots  were  untouched  by  wet.  The 
sail  and  tent  were  still  hanging  from  the  kitchen 
rafters;  where  the  streams  had  streaked  down  across 
them,  and  they  were  far  from  dry  ;  but  it  didn't 
matter  so  much  in  their  case. 

The  apples  were  carefully  turned  from  time  to 
time,  so  as  to  roast  evenly ;  and  when  they  were 
done  we  had  supper.  Even  the  sour  ones  were 
pretty  fair,  and  the  sweet  ones  were  just  prime. 

It  wasn't  time  for  sunset  by  nearly  an  hour,  but 
the  clouds  made  it  seem  like  twilight.  Before 
dark  we  got  a  lot  of  wood  ready  ;  this  time  we 
took  all  that  we  could  very  well  get  at,  wet  or  dry, 
for  the  fire  would  soon  drive  out  the  moisture,  and 
I'm  afraid  we  left  the  old  place  considerably  more' 
ruinous  than  we  found  it. 

Our  cots  were  now  rigged  to  swing  from  the  ceil- 
ing beams ;  we  drove  in  the  stoutest  nails  we  could 
find,  to  hang  them  by,  and  arranged  the  tent  and 
sail  so  as  to  keep  off  the  draught  from  the  win- 
dows. 

As  evening  set  in,  we  lighted  the  lantern,  and 
hung  it  from  the  ceiling,  near  the  middle.  The  fire 
blazed  high,  with  another  circle  of  apples  browning 
and    sizzling  around  it,  the  cloths    curtained  us, 


OUR  WF.liK  AFLOAT.  301 

and  shut  out  the  desolate  look  of  the  room,  and  the 
dark  corners.  It  wasn't  half  so  bad  as  we  thought 
it  would  be  when  we  first  decided  to  stay  there  for 
the  night. 

"  About  this  time  yesterday,"  remarked  Joe,  "we 
were  wondering  where  we'd  camp  to-night." 

"  Yes ;  and  we  calculated  to  be  down  at  the 
beech-tree.  This  old  shebang  was  the  last  place 
we'd  have  thought  of ;  we  never  expected  to  see  it 
again  ! " 

• '  Well,  we'll  have  to  re-appoint  the  beech-tree  for 
to-morrow  niofht." 

"  Suppose  it  should  keep  on  raining  ?" 

"  Can't  help  it,  if  it  rains  cats  and  dogs ;  I  tell 
you  this  place  is  about  exhausted,  for  us  ! " 

"So  I  say!"  I  agreed;  "and  besides,  we  want  to 
get  home  on  Saturday,  and  it  can't  take  us  much 
under  two  days ;  we  had  the  current  with  us  all  the 
first  day." 

"  Wouldn't  our  folks  be  surprised  to  see  our  quar- 
ters, to-night?     They  must  wonder  where  we  are." 

"  Especially  if  it  rained  there  as  it  has  here  ! " 

"  It  came  from  that  direction,  anyway,"  returned 
Joe.  "  The  Holcombs  got  it  as  hard  as  we;  and  they 
have  thought  of  us  more'n  once,  I  know.  I've 
thought  of  that  wheel  of  theirs  ;  and  if  it's  stood 
this,  it'll  be  quite  a  credit  to  Tom's  work." 

"  I  believe  It  has,"  said  I  ;  "he  knew  what  this 
river  was  before  he  put  it  there.     You  know   he 


302  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

told  us  those  posts  went  down  five  feet ;  and  there 
was  a  sluice-gate,  besides." 

H"  'Twould  have  needed  a  sluice-gate  the  whole 
width  of  the  dam,  to  let  this  afternoon's  water 
through.  If  his  dam's  stood  it,  it's  done  better 
than  ours,  it's  safe  to  say." 

"  Yes ;  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  we'd  find  a  little 
repairing  to  do." 

The  rain  had  stopped ;  and  the  sail  began  to  stir 
a  little,  now  and  then,  as  a  light  wind  came  fanning 
in.  We  went  out  and  looked  around  for  a  few 
moments.  It  was  pretty  dark;  still  we  could  see 
where  the  trees  branched  up  against  the  sky,  for 
there  was  a  young  moon  behind  the  thick  clouds  ; 
and  overhead  there  was  a  star — yes,  two!  —  now 
they  were  gone  again ;  but  another  was  in  sight 
farther  down  in  the  north,  and  the  heavy  drifts  of 
vapor  were  flying  from  that  direction.  No  fear  of 
rain  to-morrow ! 

We  didn't  sit  up  much  longer,  for  we  wanted  to 
make  an  early  start ;  we  were  nicely  dried,  now, 
and  the  apples  were  done  to  a  turn.  Besides,  the 
mosquitoes  came  in  to  look  at  our  fire  and  lantern, 
and  in  the  course  of  their  wanderings  they  paid 
altogether  too  much  attention  to  us.  The  nettings 
were  taken  from  the  bags  and  unfolded ;  and  when 
I  had  "turned  in,"  Joe  fixed  mine  so  as  to  protect 
my  head,  and  arranged  his  as  far  as  he  could  with- 
out shutting  himself  out ;  then  he  put  out  the  lan- 
tern, and  climbed  into  his  cot. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT,  303 

Presently  a  voice  came  from  behind  Joe's  net- 
ting: "  What's  the  name  of  this  camp?" 

"  Camp!  in  this  place!"  I  groaned.  "Don't 
mention  it !" 

"  Well,  what  is  it,  then  ?  You  don't  expect  we've 
started  housekeeping  here,  do  you  ? " 

"Joe,  it's  a  disgrace  to  the  expedition  to  mention 
such  a  thing !  Let  it  be  a  camp  then,—  Camp  She- 
bang- ! " 

But  that  wasn't  magnificent  enough,  he  insisted"; 
and  we  debated  two  or  three  minutes,  over  various 
suggestions.  Finally  we  rejected  Camp  Shower- 
bath,  Camp  Greer,  and  Camp  Storm-bound,  in  favor 
of  Camp  Dilapidation, —  which  sounded  magnificent, 
even  if  it  didn't  mean  it. 

Then  we  found  the  last  night's  camp  hadn't  been 
named.  Joe  proposed  Camp  Thunder-and-lightning; 
which  was  ratified  at  once  by  a  unanimous  vote  ; 
and  we  composed  ourselves  to  sleep  with  a  sooth- 
ing sense  of  duty  performed.  I  remember  listening 
to  the  rustling  of  the  vines  at  the  windows,  and  the 
snapping  and  hissing  of  the  fire,  while  I  watched  its 
flickering  light  on  the  sail,  as  it  trembled  and  swayed 
in  the  draught,  and  on  the  black  and  ancient  rafters 
overhead. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Next  morning  I  became  dimly  aware  that  some- 
body was  talking  and  tramping  about.  On  first 
opening  my  eyes,  I  was  bewildered  for  a  moment 
by  the  strange  surroundings  ;  then  I  remembered, 
and  let  my  lids  drop  again,  saying,  "All  right  Joe  !  " 
for  I  realized  that  the  person  I  had  heard  could  be 
no  other. 

"Joe  yourself!"  exclaimed  a  voice  which  was 
certainly  not  Joe's,  though  it  seemed  somehow 
familiar.  My  eyes  quickly  opened  once  more,  and 
saw  Ben  Holcomb  standing  by  the  fireplace,  with 
his  face  wearing  a  genial  grin. 

"  So  here  you  are,  sure  enough  ! "  he  went  on. 
"  I  thought  like  as  not  you'd  taken  up  lodgings  in 
this  old  shanty,  when  the  rain  pitched  in  so  yester- 
day." 

"And  here  you  are  ! "  retorted  Joe  ;  "  I  wasrit  ex- 
pecting to  find  you  here  !  " 

"  Oh,  that's  explained  easy  enough.  I  woke  up 
before  daylight,  this  morning, —  you  chaps  must  find 
it  mighty  comfortable  here,  to  snooze  this  way, — 
and  couldn't  get  to  sleep  again  ;  so  I  got  to  thinking 
of  you.  I  knew  'twasn't  likely  you'd  had  gone  by 
yesterday,  especially  in  that  rain,  without  stopping 
to  see  us  ;  —  and  we  were  down  at  the  river,  part  of 

304 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  305 

the  time,  too.  Tom  and  I  both  said  you'd  likely 
wait  here,  for  we  knew  there  was  no  other  house 
within  half  a  mile  of  where  you  would  have  to  stop. 
We  looked  for  you  last  evening,  though;  we  thought 
may  be  you'd  come  and  stay  with  us." 

"You  don't  suppose  we'd  have  imposed  ourselves 
on  you  that  way,  when  we  were  all  fitted  out  for 
camping?  " 

"  We'd  have  liked  nothing  better!"  he  answered; 
and,  speaking  for  himself  and  Tom,  no  doubt  he  was 
rieht. 

"  Well,"  he  went  on,  "  I  got  up  softly  and  dressed, 
and  wrote  a  little  note,  which  I  left  on  Tom's 
clothes,  and  struck  out  for  here  just  as  day  was 
breaking.  I  took  the  road  straight  for  this  place: 
and  if  I  hadn't  found  you  here,  I  was  going  to  follow 
the  river  up  as  far  as  you'd  be  likely  to  take  your 
boat,  and  then  down  to  our  place.  But  when  I 
peeked  in,  I  saw  I  needn't  go  farther;  and  as  you 
seemed  to  be  keeping  open  house,  I  just  walked  in. 
I  thought  I'd  see  how  you  looked  in  camp,  and  then 
sail  down  with  you." 

"  All  right,"  said  Joe,  who  was  now  up,  and  start- 
ing the  fire.  "  We'll  take  you  down.  But  this  isn't 
the  regular  way  we  camp,  of  course.  We  stayed  here 
last  night,  because  we  could  make  abetter  fire  here 
How'd  your  water-wheel  stand  it  yesterday, — is  it 
there  still  ?  " 

"You'd  better  believes  he  is!"  exclaimed  Ben; 
20 


jod  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"  sound  as  a  nut;  the  farther  end  of  the  dam  was 
washed  down,  though,  as  far  as  the  posts  of  the 
slujce-gate.  We  didn't  build  that  part  so  strong, 
because  there  wasn't  so  much  strain  there,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing.  But  the  old  wheel  was  put  there  to 
stay;  the  dirt  and  stones  around  were  washed  out 
more  than  a  foot,  but  she  was  planted  deeper'n 
that!" 

"  She  must  have  spun  some,  I  reckon !" 
"No;  and  that's  the  funniest  part  of  it ;  she 
never  went  slower  than  in  the  worst  of  it  yesterday 
afternoon.  You  know  she's  over-shot  ; — the  trough 
carries  the  water  right  over  to  the  farther  side; — 
well,  the  water  rose  over  the  edge  of  the  trough,  in 
front  of  the  gate,  and  poured  right  along  into  the 
buckets;  at  the  same  time,  though  it  was  pouring 
over  the  dam  against  the  nearer  side  in  a  regular 
flood,  and  rushing  alongunderneath,  'most  half-wav 
to  the  hub.  So  'twas  nearly  balanced;  but  for  a 
little  while  the  stream  underneath  was  the  strongest; 
and  she  turned  slowly  over  backward,  hoisting  up 
the  full  buckets,  and  emptying  them  on  the  wrong 
side!  Then,  toward  night,  when  the  water  began  to 
go  down,  she  was  pretty  near  still  for  awhile  ;  just 
swinging,  with  the  stream  spouting  and  rushing  all 
around,  above  and  below ;  and  later  she  began  to 
turn  the  right  way.  Then  the  dam  kept  crumbling 
away  at  the  other  end;  and  at  last  that  let  the  water 
through  enough  so  she  could  stop.     I  went  down 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  30T 

there  this  morning',  and  everything  was  quiet 
enough.  We  couldn't  drive  her  even  if  we  wanted 
to,  for  our  pond  is  pretty  near  run  out." 

"  How's  the  river  now,  pretty  high?" 

"  Well,  some  fuller  than  before  the  rain,  but  not 
much.  You  won't  have  any  more  trouble  with  our 
old  log  bridge  ;  I  guess  that's  down  to  the  paper- 
mill  by  this  time." 

"  I  should  think  you'd  have  fastened  it  down  with 
stakes  or  something." 

"  Well,  so  we  did, — the  one  before  this  ;  but  the 
ice  butted  it  away  last  winter,  stakes  and  all.  We 
didn't  put  this  one  across  till  late  in  April ;  and 
none  of  us  thought  it  would  need  any  fastening  in 
summer-time." 

"  Then  it  doesn't  always  rain  like  this,  here  ? ". 

"  I  should  think  not !  I  don't  know  what  you  re. 
used  to,  but  /  never  saw  anything  like  it,  not  in 
July.  Sometimes  it  comes  down  tremendously  for 
a  few  minutes,  in  a  thunder-shower ;  but  not  for  an 
hour  at  a  stretch.  Then,  too,  it  rained  all  day, 
and  a  good  part  of  the  night -before  ;  I  opened  the 
sluice  first  thing,  yesterday  morning,  and  the  water 
was  falling  over,  just  handsome,  as  early  as  that." 

It  didn't  take  long  to  make  some  chocolate,  and 
to  warm  up  our  baked  apples  and  hard-boiled  eggs. 
"  I  think  likely  you're  acquainted  with  the  cow  this 
milk  came  from,"  said  Joe,  as  he  passed  a  tin  cup 
of  chocolate  to  Bern 


308  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

"I  think  likely  I  coaxed  it  out  myself!"  he  re- 
joined. "  'Tisn't  so  sour  as  I  should  think  'twould 
be1;  after  being  thundered  at  so  much  !" 

What  little  was  left,  was  sour  as  milk  ever  is,  I 
guess  ;  but  it  was  mollified  by  plenty  of  chocolate 
and  sugar,  and  we  used  only  enough  to  color  with. 

"  I'm  sorry  we  can't  offer  you  any  huckleberry 
pie,"  said  I,  "but  we  cleaned  out  your  mother's 
pan,  yesterday." 

"  Oh,  that's  nothing;  I  get  plenty  of  that,  every 
day.  These  apples  are  tip-top ;  there  ain't  any  of 
ours  ripe,  yet.     You  found  them  here,  didn't  you?" 

"Yes;  in  the  old  orchard  close  by.  I  suppose 
this  is  the  Galloway  place  you  spoke  about." 

"Yes,  this  is  it;  but  the  people  who  lived  here 
last  were  named  Somers.  That  was  before  I  re- 
member anything  about  it ;  I  never  saw  it  while 
anybody  lived  here.  I  remember  it,  though,  when 
it  wasn't  nearly  as  ramshackle  as  it  is  now.  Seems 
to  me  it's  gone  to  pieces  a  deal  since  I  saw  it  last, 
pretty  near  a  year  ago ;  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  you 
had  helped  it  along  some." 

"Yes,  I'm  afraid  we  have;  but  we  must  have  a 
fire,  you  know." 

"  Of  course!  There  ain't  anybody  to  care  ;  I've 
smashed  a  little  glass  here  myself.  Oh  !  I've  been 
here  with  fellows,  hundreds  of  times.  D'you  see 
my  name  up-stairs?" 

"  We  did  ;  and  Tom's  too,"  said  I.  "  Did  you  or 
any  of  your  fellows  ever  stay  here  over  night  ?" 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  jop 

"  No  indeed  !  It's  more  comfortable  at  home. 
Didn't  you  find  it  kinder  pokerish  ?" 

"  Not  a  bit ;  we  slept  right  through;  why  shouldn  t 
we  r 

"Well,  there  are  some  folks  say  it's  hanted ;  — 
but  Tom  says  that's  all  bosh,  and  you  can  find  fools 
that'd  say  it  of  any  old  house  nobody  lived  in, 
whether  anything  ever  happened  there  or  not ;  and 
father  says  the  same.  But  there  are  plenty  of  fel- 
lows that  money  couldn't  buy  to  come  here  at  night ; 
—  not  alone,  any  way." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "you  can  tell  them  that  we've 
stayed  here  all  night,  and  lived  through  it.  I  wish 
somebody  had  offered  us  money  for  it ;  'twould  have 
been  earned  easy,  wouldn't  it,  Joe?" 

"  You're  right ! "  he  assented.  "  Did  anything  ever 
happen  here?" 

"  Not  as  I  ever  heard  of,"  said  Ben. 

"  I  suppose  you've  seen  that  ?"  I  said,  pointing  to 
the  stanza  over  the  cellar  stairs. 

Ben  burst  into  a  laugh.  "  I  know  the  chap  that 
wrote  it!"  he  replied.  "  He  made  it  out  of  whole 
cloth,  of  course ;  and  he  scared  himself  so  he  wouldn't 
go  down  ;  said  he  knew  there  wasn't  anything  there 
worth  the  trouble.  He  was  right  enough  there, 
anyhow.      D'you  go  down?" 

Then  we  told  him  about  the  pigs  ;  and  that  lead 
us  to  speak  of  the  barn,  and  how  it  had  been 
struck ;  so  we  all  went  out  and  took  a  look  at  it. 


Sio  O UR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Ben  was  quite  impressed.     He  had  seen  a  tree  that 
had  been  "struck,"  but  never  any  building. 
*  "  I  heard  that  clap ;    'twas    a  ripper  ! "  he   said. 
"Ain't  you  glad  you  wasn't  in  here?" 

"Yes  !  "  said  I  ;  "  Camp  Dilapidation  was  safer, 
that  time." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

The  morning  was  fine  as  could  be  ;  clear  and 
crisp,  with  a  fresh  breeze  blowing  from  northwest. 
We  packed  up  our  goods,  and  left  the  Galloway 
place,  this  time  for  good;  and  we  were  not  sorry; 
though  we'd  have  been  a  deal  more  uncomfortable, 
if  it  hadn't  been  there.  The  pigs  were  scattered 
through  the  orchard,  breakfasting  on  the  windfalls  ; 
and  we  picked  off  the  few  sweet  apples  that  were 
still  hanging. 

When  we  reached  the  stream,  we  turned  down 
along  the  bank. 

"Where's  your  boat?"  asked  Ben  in  surprise, 
peering  about. 

"  Oh,  it's  down  here  in  the  woods,  a  little  way," 
answered  Joe. 

"  I  should  think  you'd  have  brought  her  clear  up, 
instead  of  toting  your  things  'way  down  there." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "you  know  there's  a  bad  place 
just  below  here,  where  the  water  runs  down  over 
rocks." 

"Yes,  but  it  wouldn't  be  any  more  work  to  get 
her  up  around  there,  than  it  was  at  our  dam  !  " 

"  'Twouldn't  have  been,  with  you  and  Tom  to 
help." 

"  That's  so  !  "  he  admitted. 

311 


312 


O  UR   WEEK  AELOA  T. 


When  we  came  to  the  place  we'd  been  speaking 
about,  Joe  and  I  walked  along  close  to  the  bank, 
scanning  the  bottom  closely.  The  water  was  deeper 
than  when  we  had  first  seen  it,  but  it  was  clear.  A 
little  way  from  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  I  caught  sight 
of  what  we  were  looking  for,- —  a  fragment  of  rope 

streaming  down,  and 
playing  to  and  fro  in 
the  current. 

"Hullo!"  I  cried, 
"here's  somebody's 
anchor!"  lifting-  it  from 
where  it  had  caught  on 
a  sharp  jutting  edge  of 
the  rock. 

"Caesar!  where'd  that 

come  from,"  exclaimed 

Joe.     "  Somebody  must 

Jl  have  been  up  here  with 

a  boat,  some  time!" 

"  I  reckon  so  !"  Ben 
burst  out;  "don't  you 
s'pose  I  see  it  all  ?  You  left  your  boat  anchored 
here,  and  the  flood  carried  her  down  !  You  were 
mighty  lucky  to  catch  her  again  !  " 

We  smiled.  "  That  makes  me  think  !"  he  went 
on,  "  Tom  and  I  saw  a  pole  drifting  down,  and  got 
hold  of  it,  while  we  were  watching  our  wheel.  We 
thought  it  might  belong  to  you." 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  313 

"  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  if  it  did,"  said  I.  Our 
mast  washed  away,  and  one  of  the  oars; — you  didn't 
see  that,  I  suppose  !  " 

And  he  hadn't ;  but  Joe  and  I  thought  it  was  at 
least  even  chances  that  we  hadn't  seen  the  last  of  it 
yet. 

We  now  left  the  bank,  and  made  for  a  certain  oak 
which  we  had  noted  the  day  before,  as  being  close 
to  where  our  "blazed"  path  came  to  the  edge  of  the 
woods. 

"Is  she  as  far  from  the  stream  as  that?"  asked 
Ben. 

We  explained  that  the  stream  wound  about,  in 
the  woods,  and  we  were  taking  a  short  cut. 

We  followed  our  track  without  any  trouble,  and 
found  the  Triton  just  as  we  had  left  her. 

"  Gewhillikens  !"  cried  Ben,  "you  meant  she 
shouldn't  get  away  again  !  " 

We  untied  the  now  useless  moorings,  and  tipped 
out  the  two  or  three  inches  of  water  which  covered 
her  bottom;  we  were  glad  to  see  it  there,  for  it 
showed  that  the  craft  hadn't  been  made  leaky  by 
her  mad  voyage  among  the  rocks  and  tree-trunks. 
Then  we  launched  her,  and  got  the  freight  aboard. 
Ben  was  very  useful  ;  he  had  been  a  great  help  in 
bringing  our  things  from  the  house,  and  we  felt  he 
had  earned  his  ride. 

And  now  at  last  we  were  fairly  off,  afloat  once 
more  in  our  faithful  old  Triton;  drifting  easily  with 


314  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

the  current,  instead  of  fighting  against  it.  Ben  was 
ambitious  to  handle  an  oar,  so  we  let  him  shove  at 
the  stern. 

The  effects  of  the  flood  could  be  seen  in  the 
woods  on  either  hand  ;  the  grass  and  underbrush 
were  prostrate  and  draggled,  with  every  twig  and 
leaf  swept  in  the  course  of  the  current.  Presently 
a  slender  pole  barred  our  way,  caught  by  the  ends 
across  a  tree  on  each  side.  Joe  easily  freed  it,  and 
laid  it  in  the  boat,  where  it  belonged, — for  it  was 
nothing  else  than  our  sprit.  Now  we  could  spread 
our  sail  as  soon  as  needed  ;  that  is,  if  it  was  really 
our  mast  they'd  found. 

I  was  splicing  the  anchor-rope  together  again. 
"  Tell  you,  Joe,  isn't  it  lucky  the  anchor  didn't  catch 
till  she  got  to  the  bottom  of  that  slide  ?  It  kept  her 
straight,  bows  on  to  the  current ;  if  she'd  swung 
around  sideways,  and  happened  to  hit  a  rock, 
'twould  have  staved  her,  sure  !  " 

"  Ho  !"  cried  Ben,  "  so  she  came  down  that  place  ! 
Then  you  must  have  taken  her  up,  after  all  ! " 

"  We  never  said  we  didn't !  "  returned  Joe,  "  'twas 
you  made  up  your  mind  we  hadn't." 

"Well,  where  did  she  break  away  from,  anyway? 
You  might  as  well  out  with  it,  now." 

I  explained  that  we  had  intended  to  "  out  with  it," 
when  he  and  Tom  were  together ;  and  tell  it  to 
both  of  them  at  once.  "Though  after  all,  there 
isn't    much    to  tell,"    I  went  on.     "  We  had   her 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  315 

moored  at  the  orchard,  and  after  that  big  rain  we 
went  down  to  bail  her  out,  and  she  was  gone  ;  then 
we  followed  along  down  the  stream  till  we  found 
her." 

"  And  did  you  find  her  there  where  you  tied  her  ?" 

"  No;  she  was  nearer  the  stream  than  that,  but 
she  was  beyond  where  the  water  is  now  ;  if  she'd 
kept  in  the  channel,  she'd  have  floated  clear  down." 

"And  over  Odell's  dam  !  I  bet  you  felt  kinder 
uneasy  till  you  came  across  her  !  " 

"  Yes  ;  we  didn't  know  but  she'd  drift  into  your 
wheel  and  smash  it." 

"  Ho!  'twould  take  a  bio^er  boat  than  this  to 
do  that!"  he  declared.  "  But,  my!"  he  went  on, 
"  wouldn't  Tom  and  I  have  been  surprised  to  have 
seen  your  boat  come  drifting  down  empty  and  full 
of  water !  'Twould  have  looked  as  though  you'd 
been  drowned ;  but,  of  course,  we'd  known  better'n 
than  that ! " 

Here  were  the  stepping-stones  ;  and  after  we  got 
by,  Joe  and  I  took  off  our  shoes,  rolled  up  our 
trowsers,  and  waded  in  to  put  back  the  one  we  had 
rolled  out  of  the  way. 

"So  you  did  that!"  said  Ben.  "Anybody'd 
think  it  was  yesterday's  rain;  I  wouldn't  bother 
with  it."  But  we  persisted,  and  soon  were  able  to 
leave  the  place  as  we  found  it. 

"  That  path  leads  to  Breck's  huckleberry  pas- 
ture," Ben  remarked.  "I've  picked  bushels  and 
bushels  there  ;  they're  pretty  much  gone  now." 


316  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

We  noticed,  as  we  went  farther  down,  that  the 
stream  wasn't  quite  as  full  as  it  had  been  when  we 
can^e  up,  although  the  current  was  stronger  ;  but 
this  was  accounted  for  by  the  accident  to  Tom's 
dam.  We  soon  came  in  sight  of  it,  and  of  him, 
too,  working  away  at  the  end  on  our  right  He 
was  so  deeply  engaged  that  he  didn't  see  us  till  we 
were  nearly  up  to  him. 

"Hullo!"  he  cried.  "Good  morning!  glad  to 
see  you  again.  D'you  find  them  where  you  ex- 
pected, Ben  ?" 

"  Yes-sir-ree  !  They  were  at  home  in  the  old 
shanty,  all  fixed  for  housekeeping ;  both  sound 
asleep  when  I  got  there  !" 

"Were  you  there  all  yesterday?" 

"Yes,"  said  Joe  ;  "the  place  was  close  to  where 
we  camped  the  night  before;  and  we  thought  we'd  be 
more  comfortable  there,  than  working  along  down 
in  the  rain." 

"  You  ought  to  have  come  here  ;  we  were  expect- 
ing you  all  day." 

"Their  boat  started  anyway!"  said  Ben,  "and 
got  pretty  near  half-way  ;  but  they  wouldn't  take  the 
hint!" 

"  How's  that?"  — and  then  we  sailed  in,  and  told 
them  the  whole  thing. 

"Well  !  you  must  have  had  an  anxious  time,  for 
one  while.  'Twould  have  been  pretty  rough  on  you 
if  she  had  pitched  over  the  dam  below  here  ! " 

"  They'd  a  notion  she'd  smash  our  wheel ! "  said 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  317 

Ben,  and  Tom  smiled;  —  "but  I  let  'em  know  it 
doesn't  smash  so  easy !  " 

"Oh,  well,  there'd  been  no  trouble  about  that;  the 
main  current  sets  well  this  side  of  the  wheel.  Besides, 
I  was  on  the  watch  part  of  the  time,  and  I'd  have 
caught  her  for  you.  I  did  pick  up  something  that 
belongs  to  you,  I  guess.  Ben,  you  run  and  get  it  !" 
—  but  Ben  had  already  started  for  the  fence-corner 
a  few  rods  away;  and  'twas  our  mast  he  brought  back, 
sure  enough. 

"It  wa'n't  no  trouble,  seeing  I  happened  to  be 
around,"  he  said  in  answer  to  our  thanks;  "  I'm  glad 
it  turned  out  to  be  yours." 

And  so  were  we,  and  no  mistake. 

Joe  got  out  the  pan  and  bottle,  and  handed  them 
to  Ben,  charging  him  with  renewed  thanks  to  Mrs. 
Holcomb  ;    and  he  walked  rapidly  off  to  the  house. 

"I'm  glad  your  wheel  wasn't  hurt  at  all,"  said  I. 

"  Not  a  bit !"  replied  Tom,  with  a  pleased  look; 
and  then  he  went  on  with  what  Ben  had  already  told 
us.  We  crossed  over  to  look  at  it,  and  everything 
was  the  same  as  before,  for  Tom  had  filled  in  where 
the  bottom  had  been  washed  away. 

The  dam  was  pretty  well  wrecked  for  about  one- 
third  of  its  length:  but  it  was  where  the  ground 
sloped  up  to  the  west,  and  most  of  it  had  been  less 
than  half  as  high  as  it  was  opposite  the  wheel ;  so  it 
would  be  no  great  undertaking  to  repair  it. 

Presently  we  saw  Ben  coming  back ;  he  brought 


3i8  OUR   WEEK  AFLOAT. 

the  milk-bottle  filled  again,  and  said  there  was  no 
need  of  returning  it.  Joe  was  going  up  to  fill  our  jug 
with  their  spring-water  ;  but  Ben  took  it  from  him 
anct  ran  off,  while  the  rest  of  us  got  the  boat  into 
the  stream  below.  Then  he  brought  back  the  jug 
of  water,  and  a  prime  musk-melon,  just  picked. 

There  was  a  good  breeze  blowing  down-stream, 
so  we  spread  our  sail,  and  said  good-bye  ;  thanking 
them  for  their  invitation  to  come  again  the  next 
year,  and  make  a  longer  stay;  and  we  in  turn  hoped 
they'd  come  and  see  us. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Off  we  scudded  gaily,  with  hats  waving  all  around  ; 
the  wind  and  tide  both  urged  us  swiftly  onward,  and 
in  a  few  moments  we  shot  out  into  the  pond,  and 
the  Holcombs  grew  small  and  distant  behind  us. 

"  Hooray!  this  is  something  like  I"  exulted  Joe, 
at  the  steering-oar.  The  water  rippled  away  on 
either  side,  and  boiled  and  bubbled  from  under  the 
stern  ;  the  sun  shone  brightly  on  our  sail,  swelled 
smoothly  out  by  the  breeze, —  how  different  it 
looked  from  the  woe-begone  sheet  that  hung  limp 
and  dripping  from  those  blackened  beams,  not 
many  hours  before  ! 

We  went  along  "humming"  till  nearly  to  the 
narrows  ;  then  the  woods  were  so  close,  they  took  off 
.a  good  deal. of  wind  ;  it  would  come  in  a  puff  from 
over  the  tree-tops,  and  then  leave  the  sail  swinging 
flat ;  sometimes  'twould  take  her  aback  for  a  mo- 
ment or  two.  We  didn't  bother,  though  but  let  her 
drift ;  just  sculling  a  little  through  the  narrows, 
where  the  wind  gave  out  altogether. 

When  we  got  into  the  lower  pond,  the  sail  filled 
out  again.  We  could  see  the  roof  of  Odell's  mill, 
and  a  man  working  with  a  shovel  on  the  road  just 
this  side  of  it. 

"Guess  that's  him,"  said  Joe,  and  he  got  out  his 

319 


320  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

glass.  "  '  Tis  him  !  "  and  as  we  drew  farther  from 
the  woods  the  wind  was  steadier,  and  we  scooted 
alo^ng  so  that  in  a  minute  we  could  see  him  plainly. 
He  crossed  the  road  and  caught  sight  of  us  ;  then 
he  stopped  and  looked,  and  in  another  minute  we 
were  there. 

"  Well,  well,  boys  !  so  you're  back  safe,  and  your 
boat,  too! " 

"  Yes,  and  our  boat,  too  !  "  responded  Joe  ;  "  but 
she  got  away  from  us  once,  and  for  a  while  we 
thought  may  be  you'd  see  her  pieces  floating  along 
below  here." 

"  Don't  say  !     Where  were  you  yesterday  ? " 

"  In  the  old  Galloway  house." 

"  What !  in  that  tumbledown  old  place?  Didn't 
find  it  very  much  better  than  out-doors,  did  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  we  made  out  to  keep  dry.  You've 
had  quite  a  wash-out  here,  haven't  you  ?" 

The  old  man  was  .repairing  the  road,  throwing 
sand  and  gravel  over  and  among  the  big  stones,  which 
had  been  swept  bare ;  in  some  places  it  was  eaten 
down  a  yard  or  more. 

"  Yes  ;  it  was  the  worst  flood  I've  ever  seen  here, 
in  July.  There's  a  good  heavy  wall  on  the  side  to- 
ward the  pond,  you  see,  and  a  bank  sloping  from  it 
into  the  water ;  that  saved  it,  but  for  a  few  minutes 
it  ran  over  here  ankle  deep.  You  see  this  gang- 
way,"—  the  little  bridge  from  the  road  to  the  door 
in  the  gable,  at  the  upper  story, —  "well,  it  poured 


OUR  WEEK  AELOAT.  321 

along  that  and  ran  off  at  the  sides  in  a  regular 
waterfall, — all  that  didn't  crowd  under  the  door. 
At  the  dam,  'twas  clear  up  to  the  bridge,  and 
roared  so  you  might  have  heard  it  a  mile  ! " 

After  a  few  more  words,  Joe  asked  if  we  might 
go  down  and  get  the  rollers,  to  fetch  our  boat 
around.  But  he  wouldn't  hear  of  our  doing  that 
till  we  had  come  in  and  had  some  milk  ;  and  of 
course  we  couldn't  very  well  say  no,  for  he  owned 
the  rollers,  and  we  must  take  them  on  his  terms. 
So  in  we  went  ;  'twasn't  more  than  two  hours  since 
we  had  breakfast,  but  we  managed  to  put  away 
some  milk  and  a  generous  allowance  of  huckleberry 
cake  ;  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Odell  seemed  quite  inter- 
ested in  our  account  of  our  day  at  the  Galloway 
place.  He  was  especially  amused  at  our  laying  the 
waterproofs  on  the  floor  above. 

--'  Well,  it  came  near  being  as  bad  as  that  here,  one 
time!"  said  she.  "I  never  worked  harder  than  I 
did  for  ten  minutes  yesterday  afternoon,  mopping 
up  the  water  that  came  in  under  that  door ! " 

We  urged  him  not  to  trouble  about  helping  us 
around  ;  we  could  get  the  rollers  and  attend  to  it 
well  enough,  as  it  was  down  hill ;  —  but  he  insisted 
on  doing  so  ;  and  as  we  shook  hands  with  him  and 
pushed  off,  we  felt  that  no  explorers  had  ever  fallen 
in  with  more  kindly  and  hospitable  "  natives." 

We  had  unshipped  the  mast ;  for  the  sail  was 
worse   than    useless   because  of  the    trees,   which 

21 


322  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

stretched  their  boughs  above  our  heads.  We  made 
good  progress,  nevertheless,  and  easy,  too ;  Joe 
shoving  astern,  and  I  looking  out  from  the  bows  ; 
neither  of  us  hurt  ourselves  working,  not  at  all.  We 
remembered  what  a  hot  time  we  had  shoving  up 
here ;  and  it  was  pleasant  to  feel  the  difference. 

It  didn't  seem  like  going  back  over  the  same  old 
thing,  either ;  when  we  came  up,  we  were  always 
looking  ahead ;  now  we  got  the  view  the  other  way. 
Sometimes  there  would  be  something  we  had  noticed 
before  ;  for  instance,  here  was  the  little  brook  flow- 
ing down  from  the  woods  and  over  the  left  bank, 
which  we  thought  must  come  from  a  spring  ;  —  be- 
fore, it  was  on  our  right.  I  can  say  the  left  bank 
now,  instead  of  on  our  left ;  for  when  you  read 
anywhere  of  the  right  or  left  bank  of  a  river,  it  is 
always  supposed  that  you're  looking  down  stream. 

It  didn't  seem  long  before  we  came  to  the  shoals 
which  had  given  us  so  much  trouble  on  the  way  up. 
Here  they  were,  but  not  quite  the  same;  the  shift- 
ing bed  had  been  washed  into  new  shapes,  and  in- 
stead of  half  a  dozen  little  channels  at  this  upper 
end,  there  were  now  only  two,  of  which  the  larger 
would  float  the  boat  and  us  too.  We  floated  down 
this  nearly  a  third  of  the  way,  before  it  began  to 
split  up. 

There  was  more  water  flowing  than  when  we 
came  up,  and  we  might  have  got  along  by  towing 
her  ;  but  that  was  played  out,  and  without  losing 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  323 

any  time  we  jumped  out  on  the  gravel  and  made 
straight  for  the  dam. 

"  It's  washed  pretty  well  away,  I'm  afraid, 
to  let  the  stream  get  as  low  as  this  ! "  remarked 
Joe. 

A  few  yards  above  the  dam  was  a  willow,  which 
sent  its  shoots  and  branches  across  so  thickly  that 
we  had  some  trouble  to  get  by,  on  the  way  up,  and 
we  hadn't  praised  it  highly  at  the  time. 

It  had  now  done  us  a  good  turn,  though  ;  for 
there  was  our  steering  oar,  high  and  dry  among 
the  boughs. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  we've  done  well  not  to  waste 
any  worry  over  that  /  " 

"  Oh,  I  knew  it  would  get  tired  of  going  it  alone, 
and  pull  up  for  us  to  come  along  ! " 

We  left  it  there  for  the  time  and  pushed  on  by ; 
and  our  dam  wasn't  quite  gone,  for  we  could  see  a 
stone  or  two  above  water  in  the  middle,  before  we 
got  there.  The  stakes  had  kept  that  part  from 
going  quite  as  far  to  ruin,  but  the  rest  was  laid 
pretty  flat;  still,  the  stones  were  mostly  at  hand, 
scattered  along  the  bottom  within  three  or  four 
yards. 

We  didn't  stop  long-  to  look,  but  stripped  and 
plunged  right  in,  and  first  set  ourselves  to  filling  in 
the  right  side  and  the  middle  ;  then  we  cut  stakes 
and  planted  them  where  the  water  rushed  through 
at  the  left,  and  wove  our  grating  as  before.     The 


BH 


0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 


thing  was  done  in  less  than  half  the  time  it  took  us 

at  first. 

"It  won't  take  long  for  the  water  to  rise  to  where 

the  boat  is  now,"  said  I  ;  "in  a  quarter  of  an  hour 

we'll  be  kicking  this  down  again." 

As  we  strolled 
back  to  the  Trito7i, 
Joe  stopped  sudden- 
ly, looking  intently 
into  the  channel  close 
by,  where  the  stream 
was  rippling  over  the 
gravel,  and  over  a 
smooth,  rounded 
slate-stone  about  as 
large  as  my  big  straw 
hat.  Next  moment 
he  stooped  quickly 
over  and  snatched  it 
up,  with  one  hand  at 
each  side, —  presto  ! 
change !  it  threw  out 
four  wriggling  paws 
with  long  claws,  and 
a   head    which    shot 

forth  and  back  so  swiftly  there  was  no  telling  how 

it  looked 

'Twas  a  big  snapping-turtle  !    Joe  looked  triumph- 
ant, and  a  trifle  scared,  too  ;  but  he  hung  on  man- 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  325 

fully.  He  had  caught  the  beast  just  right,  it 
stretched  its  front  paws  back,  and  its  rear  ones  for- 
ward, but  the  big  claws  were  blunt,  and  the  legs 
moved  sluggishly,  so  there  was  no  harm  done.  All 
its  life  seemed  centered  in  its  head,  which  flew  out 
every  second  with  a  jerk  that  shook  the  whole  crea- 
ture, and  Joe's  arms  besides ;  stretching  around  side- 
ways to  get  at  his  fingers,  which  fortunately  it 
couldn't  quite  reach. 

We  saw  it  in  a  kind  of  a  glimmer,  like  the  spokes 
of  a  carriage  wheel  on  the  fly. 

Joe  carried  him  to  the  middle  of  the  gravel, 
between  the  channels,  and  set  him  down.  Then  we 
were  ready  to  see  him  charge  at  us ;  and  if  he  could 
have  walked  with  his  head,  we'd  have  had  to  look 
out ;  as  it  was,  he  stayed  still,  with  his  head  part  way 
out,  so  we  could  admire  his  countenance. 

He  looked  —  well,  dissatisfied;  I  think  it  must  be 
harder  for  a  snapping-turtle  to  put  on  a  smiling 
expression  than  'most  any  animal.  If  he  could, 
'twould  be  a  broad  smile.  Joe  got  a  twig  and  held 
it  under  his  nose ;  and  clip!  he  had  it  clinched.  Joe 
pulled  up  and  lifted  him. 

"  Want  to  try  his  heft  ?  " 

So  I  took  the  twi^  ;  he  was  a  orood  solid  weight ; — 
more  than  the  stick  would  stand,  for  it  parted  and 
let  him  down,  thump.  He  held  fast  to  what  he'd 
got,  till  we  tickled  him  with  another;  when  he 
changed  for  that. 


326 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


I  lifted  him  by  the  side,  as  Joe  had  done  ;  his 
claws  joined  forces  and  plucked  away  feebly  at  my 
fingers ;  —  but  'twas  wonderful  how  his  head 
plunged  out,  like  the  fist  of  a  prize-fighter.  He 
was  a  thorough-going  reptile ;  more  of  the  alligator 
about  him  than  anything  I'd  seen,  he  had  the  same 
saw-teeth  knobs  strung  along  the  top  of  his  big 
clumsy  tail,  and  gave  out  a  strange,  musky  odor,  as 


wmilfilfJi! 


they're  said  to  do.  His  shell  opened  higher  in 
front  than  behind,  to  make  room  for  that  tremen- 
dous head ;  it  was  small  for  him,  anyway  ;  when  we 
poked  a  leg,  he'd  have  to  bulge  out  somewhere  else 
before  he  could  haul  it  in. 


O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T.  327 

The  water  was  now  gaining  ;  —  "  Tide's  coming 
in  !  "  says  Joe, —  so  we  cut  a  short,  stout  stick  for  a 
handle,  and  persuaded  him  to  lay  hold.  He  wasn't 
as  ready  as  at  first ;  he  was  beginning  to  feel  that 
his  grip  was  missing  fire,  somehow  ;  but  he  stuck 
like  a  good  fellow  when  he'd  once  got  a  taste,  and 
we  carried  him  up  to  the  boat,  and  laid  him  com- 
fortably in  the  locker.  But  first  I  set  him  down  on 
the  sand,  and  scratched  a  line  alongside,  which 
was  fourteen  inches  long  by  my  pocket  scale, —  the 
shell  alone;   I  didn't  try  to  measure  his  head. 

"We'll  be  able  to  exhibit  one  of  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  region  !  "  said   I. 

"  If  he  doesn't  devour  us  on  the  road  ;  we  mustn't 
forget  he's  there  when  we  get  out  our  blankets  ;  — 
'twouldn't  be  nice!" 

"The  old  Romans  used  to  have  a  sign  up  where 
they  kept  their  watch-dogs,  lCave  canemj — 'beware 
of  the  dog,' — so  I'll  write  'Cave  snapping  turtle,' 
and  I  took  a  piece  of  chalk  and  printed  it  on  the 
front  of  the  locker. 

"  You  might  as  well  have  labelled  it  straight, 
snapping-turtle  cave  !  "  remarked  Joe. 

So  we  left  him  in  there  to  meditate  ;  he'd  exer- 
cised considerably  for  a  cold-blooded  animal,  and 
it  must  have  been  a  new  thing  to  him  for  it  to 
amount  to  so  little. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  water  in  the  channel  now  beg^an  to  widen, 
and,  shortly,  we  got  aboard  and  pushed  easily 
down.  We  now  took  our  oar  down  from  the  tree, 
which  had  kept  it  for  us  so  obligingly,  but  which 
gave  us  a  scratchy  time  to  get  by  it ;  and  the  next 
thing  was  to  demolish  our  masonry  ;  for  the  bank 
was  steep  and  crowned  with  bushes,  so  that  it 
wouldn't  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  haul  around 
ashore,  even  if  we  have  cared  to  do  so. 

So  we  moored  a  few  moments,  and  rolled  away 
the  top  of  the  dam ;  the  current  was  very  willing 
to  help  us,  and  it  wasn't  two  minutes  before  we 
were  afloat  again  on  the  lower  side,  gliding  quietly 
down  where  we  had  strained  and  tugged  to  get 
up ;  all  we  had  to  do  was  to  dodge  the  low 
branches,  and  give  a  shove  or  two  at  the  bends. 

We  could  see  all  along  how  the  water  had 
spread  beyond  the  bank,  leaving  sand  and  mud  on 
the  low,  level  spots,  and  bowing  the  bushes  and 
shrubs  in  the  woods ;  it  had  flooded  out  three  or 
four  times  the  usual  width,  most  of  the  way.  We 
expected  to  find  that  the  fallen  tree  —  where  the 
trail  led  off  to  the  cave  —  would  be  pretty  well 
used  up,  it  was  such  a  rotten  old  affair ;  but  it 
seemed  to  be  no  worse  off  than  before ;  in  fact,  it 

328 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  329 

had  gained.  A  lot  of  sticks  and  scraggly  twigs 
that  had  been  picked  up  from  a  mile  back  had  piled 
fast  against  it,  and  we  couldn't  go  through  the 
passage  we  had  chopped  till  we  had  cleared  away 
enough  stuff  to  make  a  first-class  camp-fire;  even 
then  it  was  a  tight  squeeze,  for  the  water  was 
higher. 

After  this  we  drifted  gently  on ;  one  steering 
and  sculling  around  the  bends,  and  the  other  doinof 
little  but  enjoy  the  ride.  The  sun  shone  bright 
and  hot,  but  the  fresh  puffs  of  the  northerly  breeze 
kept  fanning  us  from  over  the  meadows  and  be- 
tween the  boughs ;  the  grasshoppers  and  cicadas 
were  tuning  up  their  liveliest,  and  even  the  water- 
beetles  spinning  and  dodging  around,  seemed  to 
be  glad  the  wet  weather  was  over. 

By-and-by  was  the  paper-mill  pond  opening 
out  before  us.  We  slipped  quietly  in,  and  came 
almost  to  a  stand-still  as  we  lost  the  current ;  the 
distance  across  was  so  short  it  hardly  seemed  worth 
while  to  raise  the  sail — except  to  say  we'd  been 
under  sail  on  each  pond ;  that  was  a  fancy  of  Joe's. 
So  he  stepped  the  mast,  and  took  his  place  at  the 
steering-oar. 

Nobody  was  fishing  here  to-day;  we  didn't  even 
see  the  boat  anywhere.  There  was  the  tall,  red 
chimney  of  the  paper-mill  before  us,  with  the  tree- 
tops  clustering  around  it ;  and,  as  we  drew  nearer, 
the  jumble  of  roofs  began  to  show  above  the  edge 
of  the  embankment. 


330  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Now  we  were  close  to  shore,  near  the  dam  ;  and 
Joe  luffed  up,  while  I  went  forward  and  fended  off. 
There  were  the  buildings  spread  below  us,  with  the 
rattle  of  machinery  coming  out,  and  mingling  with 
the  dashing  of  the  water,  which  was  falling  in  a 
thin  sheet  into  the  raceway,  nearly  thirty  feet 
below. 

"  There's  the  boat !  "  said  Joe. 

It  lay  about  half-way  up  the  bank  ;  there  was  no 
need  of  Joe's  glass  to  tell  that  it  was  leaky. 

"She  went  down  stern-foremost!"  said  I. 

"Yes;  but  see!  her  port  side  is  split  'most  to 
the  bow !  it's  a  wonder,  though,  she  held  together 
at  all ! " 

There  wasn't  a  soul  in  sight ;  of  course  there 
were  three  or  four  people,  more  or  less,  in  the  mill, 
but  we  agreed  there  was  no  need  to  raise  anybody ; 
the  bank  was  smooth  turf,  and  so  steep  that  we 
could  slide  her  down  ourselves ;  and  so  we  did. 

As  we  launched  her  again  in  the  raceway,  we 
heard  a  call,  and  there  was  "  Charley"  in  the  door- 
way. We  tossed  the  grapnel  ashore,  and  went 
over ;  and  while  he  attended  to  his  work,  we  told 
him  some  of  our  up-stream  experiences.  He  said 
the  water  came  thundering  over  the  dam  in  ma^nif- 
icent  style,  the  day  before;  and  it  overflowed  from 
the  raceway  almost  to  the  mill  door  ;  the  steep 
bank  kept  it  from  spreading  on  the  other  side. 

He  was  looking  at  the  dam  at  the  very  moment 
the  boat  went  down.      It  sank  out    of    sight,    for 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  331 

there  was  quite  a  depth  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  but 
in  a  few  moments  it  came  floating  along  by,  and 
he  rushed  out  through  the  shallow  water  and 
hauled  it  in.  'Twas  pretty  well  shaken  up,  and  he 
thought  it  would  be  about  as  cheap  to  build  an- 
other as  to  try  and  put  it  in  shape  again.  It  wasn't 
much  of  a  craft  at  any  time. 

"  Whose  was  it, — Jim's?"   inquired  Joe. 

"  No;  'twas  built  by  a  fellow  named  Webb.  He 
went  out  West  last  spring  and  wanted  to  sell  her  to 
Tim  Conway  for  two  dollars  ;  but  Tim  didn't  think 
'twas  worth  that,  so  she's  been  everybody's  boat. 
Guess  you're  glad  enough  'twasn't  yours  that  made 
that  dive  ! " 

The  broad  band  of  blue  paper  was  still  winding 
to  and  fro  among  the  rollers.  The  long  room  was 
cooler  and  more  comfortable  than  when  we  were 
there  before,  and  it  was  nearly  noon  when  we  said 
good-by  to  Charley,  and  floated  the  Triton  through 
the  raceway,  and  past  the  current  that  came  foam- 
ing in  from  the  wheel. 

We  dropped  down  around  the  curves  and  along 
the  reaches  ;  at  last  the  little  house  where  Joe  had 
set  his  timekeeper  showed  its  gable  a  moment  be- 
tween the  trees,  looking  so  different  from  this 
point,  that  at  first  we  didn't  remember  having  seen 
it.  A  few  turns  more,  and  we  were  gliding  through 
the  narrow  arch,  across  the  little  pond,  and  wind- 
ing out  over  the  meadows  that  stretched  below. 


332  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

The  hours  of  that  afternoon  passed  without  any- 
thing particular  happening ;  but  Joe  and  I  remem- 
ber it  as  well  as  any  afternoon  of  the  whole  set. 
We  remember  the  rippling  and  sparkling  shallows, 
widening  into  reaches  where  the  surface  reflected 
the  tree-tops  far  above,  so  that  the  water  seemed 
to  go  down  as  deep  underneath,  till  we  got  right 
there,  and  looked  down  at  the  shining  brown  peb- 
bles within  reach  of  our  hands.  We  remember 
floating  where  it  was  damp  and  dusky,  in  the  thick 
woods,  with  the  wind  rustling  away  overhead,  but 
everything  still  below  except  for  the  gurgle  of  the 
current  where  it  broke  on  the  stones  and  logs  which 
lay  partly  in  and  partly  out,  and  rounding  into 
bright  pools,  where  the  sun  streamed  down  on  one 
side,  and  made  the  shining  leaves  and  slender 
twigs  stand  out  from  the  shade.  .There  were 
partly-cleared  fields,  with  clumps  of  shrub-oaks  all 
tangled  and  wound  together  with  wild  grape-vines, 
and  slender  white  birches  leaning  over,  with  the 
little  kite-shaped  leaves  all- shaking  and  shimmering 
on  their  deep-red  switches  ;  —  we  only  had  to  sit 
and  let  them  float  by.  On  the  way  up,  we  were 
pushing  ahead  so  eagerly,  we  didn't  take  the  time, 
as  now,  to  study  our  surroundings. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

At  last  the  square-cut  ledges  of  "Camp  Luna" 
came  in  sight  ;  a  landmark  which  showed  that  we 
were  nearing  Harlow's  Pond.  We  moored  the  boat, 
and  went  up  there  to  stretch  our  legs  a  few  mo- 
ments;  the  well  washed  remains  of  our  old  camp- 
fire  brought  back  to  us  our  experiments  in  out-door 
cooking. 

'<  We  wasted  near  half  those  fish,"  said  Joe  ; 
"another  time  we  mustn't  forget  to  bring  the  but- 
ter. I  wouldn't  mind  trying  for  another  pickerel  ; 
what  do  you  say  ?  " 

It  would  be  the  last  chance  at  fresh-water  fishing, 
and  at  the  rate  we'd  crone  there  would  be  no  doubt 
of  our  reaching  the  beech-tree  before  night ;  so  I'd 
nothing  to  say  against  it,  and  we  cut  a  couple  of 
poles  forthwith.  I  wondered,  though,  what  we 
would  do  for  bait ;  but  Joe  was  at  no  such  loss.  He 
produced  a  shapeless  and  tightly-wound  parcel, which 
he  unwrapped  with  quite  a  show  of  mystery,  throw- 
ing off  piece  after  piece  of  thick  brown  paper  till 
the  treasured  contents  came  to  light, —  which  were 
simply  the  heads,  tails,  and  a  few  other  odd  frag- 
ments of  the  fish  on  which  we  had  breakfasted  the 
day  before. 

"  I  saved   these  when    I  cleaned  'em  yesterday 

333 


334  0  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

morning ;  I  thought  may  be  we'd  find  use  for  'em." 
It  wasn't  a  very  tempting  looking  budget,  but  the 
fish  might  see  it  differently  ;  at  any  rate,  we  could 
try. 

While  we  floated  down  to  the  pond,  Joe  looked 
over  his  hoard,  and  cut  off  the  parts  which  he 
judged  would  make  the  best  show  on  the  hook, 
putting  aside  the  rest  for  ground  bait.  We  anchored 
as  nearly  as  we  could  calculate  to  where  we  had  fished 
last,  and  didn't  have  much  luck,  to  begin  with  ;  then 
we  hove  over  the  ground  bait,  and  that  seemed  to 
fetch  them. 

At  last,  when  the  afternoon  was  well  spent,  I  got 
a  pickerel  bigger  than  the  one  Joe  had  caught 
when  we  fished  there  before  ; — up  to  that  time  we 
had  taken  nothing  but  "  'pouts."  Now,  of  course, 
Joe  was  bound  to  be  even  with  me. 

Well,  he  waited  till  'most  sunset.  He  said  the 
moon  was  near  half-full,  and  we  had  the  lantern  ;  it 
didn't  matter  if  we  weren't  tucked  in  by  dark, — and 
he  got  his  pickerel  at  last ;  but  it  wasn't  as  big  as 
mine.  Then  he  said,  "  One  more  last  throw!"  and 
he  caught  another,  right  off.  He  didn't  feel  much 
more  like  stopping,  then;  he  wanted  to  "re-unite 
the  rest  of  the  family"  ;  but  I  "  up  keleg  "  and  took 
the  oars,  and  off  we  moved,  he  still  trailing  his  line 
astern. 

The  wind  had  all  gone  down,  and  the  pond  was 
like  glass.     The  sun  was  just   setting ;  several  of 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  335 

the  factory  people  were  out  watching  us  as  we  drew 
near.  I  saw  the  boy  who  sold  us  the  eggs,  and  the 
other  "  Frenchies,"  and  there  were  a  dozen  or  two 
we  hadn't  seen  before,  and  a  number  of  men  be- 
sides. 

The  first  hail  was  that  fellow  hollering  to  know 
if  we  wanted  more  ep-g"S  ;  but  we  didn't.  Then  he 
was  for  taking  the  boat  across,  and  that  was  what 
we  did  want ;  but  before  we  could  arrange  it  with 
the  boys,  some  of  the  men  got  to  questioning  us. 
We  didn't  tell  our  whole  story  by  any  means  ;  but 
they  found  that  we  were  taking  out  part  of  our  vaca- 
tion in  camping  and  fishing,  and  had  come  up  from 
Pierhaven. 

Some  of  them  seemed  to  think  we'd  better  stay 
there  over  night,  and  not  try  to  go  farther,  it  was 
so  late; — but  that  wasn't  our  idea,  not  much, — our 
last  night  out ;  and  finally  they  took  the  job  out  of 
the  boys'  hands,  and  carried  the  Triton  across  them- 
selves. And  they  wouldn't  take  anything  for  it, 
which  raised  that  neighborhood  to  a  higher  level, 
from  our  point  of  view. 

So  we  thanked  them,  and  pushed  off  into  the 
current,  which  shortly  carried  us  around  the  bend, 
and  in  two  minutes  we  were  in  a  wilderness  as  com- 
plete as  though  there  wasn't  a  house  within  five 
miles.  This  was  where  we  had  such  a  time  work- 
ing up,  and  it  wasn't  very  pleasant  now,  either;  the 


336  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

trees  were  thick,  and  made  it  pretty  dark  ;  and  they 
branched  across  so  we  had  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout 
not  to  drive  into  them.  Still,  it  was  better  thai". 
having  to  force  our  way  up  against  the  current, 
besides. 

We  turned  and  twisted  about  through  this  maze, 
with  ho  clear  notion  of  when  it  would  end,  for  we'd 
noted  no  landmarks  along  here,  on  the  way  up. 
The  twilight  was  deepening  all  the  time,  but  at  last 
it  grew  light  again  as  we  came  where  the  trees 
were  thinner.  The  next  thing,  there  was  a  big 
rock  just  in  front !  Joe  thrust  out  his  oar  and  suc- 
ceeded in  fending,  so  we  shaved  by  with  a  side- 
ways bump. 

"Gracious!  when  did  that  drop  here?"  I  ex- 
claimed. 

"I  remember  it,"  said  Joe.  "  It's  the  rock  that 
had  two  logs  coming  to  it  from  the  shore, — one 
on  each  side." 

"  Sure  enough  !  and  the  logs  have  been  washed 
away." 

A  few  rods  below,  we  came  "  within  one "  of 
running  bang  into  one  of  those  logs,  where  the 
river  narrowed  and  it  had  caught  across.  One  end 
was  under  water,  but  the  other  was  caught  in  the 
bushes,  high  enough  for  us  to  run  the  boat  under. 
The  moon  was  shining  brightly,  and  the  trees  were 
rather  open  at  that  place,  or  we  wouldn't  have  seen 
it  in  time 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  337 

"  We  must  keep  our  eyes  peeled  for  the  other 
one  !  "  said  Joe. 

But  we  never  saw  it ;  so  it  must  have  floated 
clear  down,  or  else  washed  up  one  side,  out  of 
harm's  way. 


P5 


22 


CHAPTER  XL. 

The  woods  closed  in,  and,  notwithstanding  the 
moon  and  what  was  left  of  the  twilight,  we  couldn't 
have  made  out  an  obstacle  more  than  a  boat's 
length  ahead;  so  Joe  said  it  was  time  to  light  the 
lantern.  He  was  just  opening  the  locker,  when  I 
thought  of  the  snapping-turtle  !  It  was  so  dark, 
he  didn't  notice  the  warning  I  had  chalked. 

"  Joe  !  the  turtle  ! "  I  yelled  ;  "  hold  on." 

He  remembered  in  a  flash  and  jerked  his  hands 
back,  letting  the  locker  door  fall  with  a  rattle. 
We  couldn't  see  anything,  and  I  didn't  know  but 
he'd  be  sauntering  out  among  us  ;  so  I  told  Joe  to 
shut  it  aorain,  and  fetched  the  bow  in-shore.  It 
wasn't  best  to  have  too  many  things  on  hand  at 
once,  when  a  live  steel  trap  was  to  be  reckoned  with. 
When  the  boat  wa;  r^ist,  we  considered  a  moment. 
If  we  had  a  light !  but  the  lantern  was  where  he 
had  "the  say"  of  it  just  now,  though  he  didn't 
need  it, —  something  like  the  dogf  in  the  manner. 
But  though  he  really  knew  and  cared  nothing 
about  it,  the  difficulty  was  to  make  him  understand 
that  we  meant  nothing  personal  when  we  reached 
in  for  it. 

"  Let's  light  some  paper,"  suggested  Joe;  "then 
we  can  get  some  idea  how  the  land  lies." 

338 


0  UR  WEEK  A  FLO  A  T.  339 

So  I  eot  out  a  cracker  baa- and  laid  it  on  the  hot- 
torn,  near  the  locker,  first  moistening  the  boards. 
Joe  struck  the  match  and  set  the  paper  going,  while 
I  let  drop  the  locker  door.  We  peered  in  and  saw 
him,  with  his  back  turned  to  us  and  his  alligator 
tail  curved  hard-a-port.  He  seemed  to  be  asleep, 
but  nobody  would  guarantee  that  his  head  wasn't 
awake,  and  it  was  close  to  the  end  that  the  lantern 
lay  glittering. 

I  thought  I'd  poke  it  out  of  the  way,  and  give 
him  room,  so  I  gently  shoved  in  an  oar-blade  ;  but 
instead  of  taking  it  that  way,  he  thought  the  oar 
wanted  to  get  acquainted,  and  met  it  half-way  with 
such  ready  good-will  that  it  quivered  in  my  hands. 

"His  mouth's  full,  Joe!  now  reach  in  for  the 
lantern  ! " 

But  before  he  could  get  in  a  position  that  suited 
him,  the  paper  burned  out. 

"Never  mind,  Joe;  strike  another  match,  and 
I'll  get  it ;  he  knows  me  ;  he.  wouldn't  hurt  me  for 
a  farm." 

Joe  lighted  a  match  ;  but  he  didn't  hold  it  so 
that  I  could  quite  see,  and  I  thought  too  much  of 
that  turtle  to  disturb  his  enjoyment  of  the  oar.  So 
I  lit  a  match,  and  held  it  myself,  —  and  jerked  out 
the  lantern  without  troubling  him  at  all. 

Joe  lost  no  time  in  lighting  it ;  and  then  we 
thought  he'd  had  enough  of  the  oar,  so  I  tried  to 
pull   it  away.     Of  course   he    thought   otherwise ; 


340  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

and  when  the  end  came  in  sight,  so  did  his  head, 
as  though  the  whole  thing  was  in  one  piece.  I 
don't  think  lamplight  was  becoming  to  him  ;  still, 
it's  hard  to  tell. 

I  proposed  to  shut  the  door  on  the  blade,  and 
then  pull  it  through,  leaving  him  behind  ;  but  Joe 
feared  his  jaws  would  be  splintered  before  he'd 
give  up. 

"  Let  me  unlock  him  ;  you  don't  know  the  com- 
bination !  " 

He  cut  off  the  tail  of  one  of  our  fish,  and 
skewered  it  on  a  twig.  Sure  enough,  when  Joe 
began  to  swab  his  nose  with  it,  he  exchanged,  In 
that  sudden,  earnest  way  of  his,  that  made  Joe 
jump.  Then  we  shut  him  up  with  his  new  attach- 
ment, and  began  navigating  by  the  light  of  our 
lantern. 

Here,  where  the  trees  were  thick  and  low,  it  was 
curious  to  watch  the  chancres  in  the  little  lighted 
space  just  ahead  of  us,  as  we  floated  down.  The 
boughs  and  twinkling  leaves  would  suddenly  grow 
into  shape,  and  as  we  passed,  they  would  stand  out 
bright  and  sharp,  every  little  twig  showing  up 
against  the  solid  black  ahead  ;  now  and  then  the 
lantern  would  light  up  a  branch  just  in  time  for  us 
to  save  it  from  being  swept  overboard.  Then  the 
darkness  before  us  would  grow  less  deep,  and,  in  a 
moment,  a  wall  of  leafage  would  be  disclosed  across 
our  course,  with    dark    gaps    between    the    bright 


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IT  WAS  CURIOUS  TO  WATCH  THE  CHANGES  IN  THE  LIGHTED  SPACE 
JUST  AHEAD  OF  US. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  343 

stems  and  trunks  below;  —  then  would  be  a  wide 
black  space  yawning  at  one  side  or  the  other,  all 
fringed  with  the  gleaming  leaves,  and  we  would 
round  the  curve  into  another  mysterious  stretch, 
reaching  on  ahead,  we  couldn't  tell  how  far. 

Then,  where  the  trees  were  taller  and  thinner, 
the  moonlight  would  sift  down  on  the  upper  sides 
of  the  leaves,  looking  pale  blue,  after  our  eyes  had 
grown  used  to  the  lamplight. 

At  last  we  were  in  a  place  which  I  thought  must 
be  one  of  those  long  reaches  where  the  young  trees 
arched  across ;  and  I  had  Joe  put  out  the  lantern  a 
moment,  while  I  stopped  the  boat  at  one  side. 
When  our  eyes  were  used  to  the  fainter  light,  we 
could  trace  the  path  of  the  water  away  ahead,  by 
the  pale  glimmering  reflections,  and  could  see  the 
sprays  and  stems  where  the  moonlight  touched  them 
here  and  there.  It  hardly  seemed  real,  it  was  so 
strange  and  dreamy;  but  it  wasn't  nearly  as  beauti- 
ful as  by  the  bright,  warm  sunlight.  Still  it  was 
worth  seeing,  and  I  was  glad  it  happened  so  we 
could. 

We  couldn't  keep  our  reckoning  straight,  things 
looked  so  different,  so  we  came  on  the  beech-tree 
of  a  sudden,  before  we  were  expecting  to  see  it ; 
and  it  almost  seemed  as  though  it  couldn't  be  the 
right  place.  But  there  was  no  mistaking  that  great 
tree  ;  by  lifting  the  lantern  we  could  see  the  letters 
cut  in  the  bark, —  and  here  was  the  little  cove  op- 
posite.    Our  cruising  for  that  day  was  at  an  end. 


344  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

Joe  had  the  boat  on  this  last  night,  and  I  set  up 
the  tent  on  the  little  grass  plat  beside  it.  We  got 
our  camp  ready  almost  as  quickly  as  by  daylight. 
We' didn't  cook  the  fish,  for  the  underbrush  closed 
thickly  around,  and  it  would  be  troublesome  to  find 
wood  ;  but  we  opened  the  lantern  and  made  some 
chocolate  over  the  lamp, —  thanks  to  the  bottle  of 
milk  from  the  Holcombs. 

We  enjoyed  our  little  supper,  watching  the  spots 
of  moonlight  shifting-  over  the  limbs  of  the  great 
beech,  while  the  lantern  cast  a  mellow  glow  on  the 
trunk  beneath.  Dimplinggleams  and  sparkles  shot 
out  here  and  there  on  the  black  water,  as  it  hurried 
by. 

"  It's  going  back  to  Pierhaven,"  said  Joe  ; — and 
as  we  "  turned  in,"  both  of  us  were  thinking  how  at 
that  time  to-morrow  we  would  be  there  too. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

The  first  tiling  I  heard  next  day,  was  the  snap- 
ping and  crackling  of  the  fire  Joe  had  built  to  cook 
the  fish.  I  couldn't  see  the  fire,  but  now  and  then 
he  would  come  in  sisfht  as  he  moved  about ;  and 
there  were  the  great  roots  of  the  beech,  with  the 
water  gliding  past,  and  tall,  feathery  brakes  nod- 
ding gently  on  the  bank,  all  framed  by  the  triangle 
of  the  tent-opening,  and  dimmed  now  and  then  by 
puffs  of  blue  smoke.  The  sunbeams  straggled 
down  among  the  leaves,  and  made  rounded,  quiver- 
ing knots  of  light  on  the  sides  of  my  little  shelter  ; 
and  there  was  a  fresh,  woodsy  smell  in  the  air,  with 
a  little  smoky  whiff,  at  times,  brought  by  the  light 
breaths  of  wind. 

I  lay  a  little  while  drowsily  taking  it  all  in,  and 
thinking  how  different  it  was  from  the  surroundings 
of  the  morning  before  ;  then  I  rose,  and  washed  in 
the  clear  water  of  the  cove.  Joe  had  cleaned  as 
many  fish  as  he  thought  we'd  want  for  breakfast  ; 
but  they  weren't  all  we'd  caught  so  while  he  was 
frying  them,  I  set  to,  and  cleaned  the  others.  It 
was  well  enough  I  did,  for  in  the  end  we  cooked 
another  panful.     They  were  just  good  ! 

Then  the  tents  were  taken  down,  and  the  things 

345 


346  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

stowed  away  ;  and  we  took  leave  of  that  pleasant 
spot,  to  start  on  our  last  day's  voyage. 

Jn  a  few  minutes  we  came  to  where  the  rivulet 
flowed  in  from  the  spring ;  and  that  reminded  us 
that  the  jug  was  nearly  empty,  so  we  stopped  and 
went  up  to  fill  it.  When  we  came  back,  we  put  it 
in  the  "  fore-peak,"  where  it  would  be  out  of  the  hot 
sun  ;  and  floated  along  down,  past  the  willowy  islets, 
to  the  bridge  where  our  young  friend  was  angling 
for  "punkin'-seed "  on  Tuesday.  Some  of  the 
planks  were  gone,  but  most  of  the  little  structure 
was  still  in  place  ;  there  was  a  bend,  just  above, 
which  broke  the  force  of  the  water,  no  doubt. 

The  little  ferry-boat,  farther  down;  where  the 
steps  led  up  to  the  gate,  was  also  at  its  moorings  ; 
very  likely  it  was  hauled  up,  when  the  stream  began 
to  rise.  We  saw  nobody  here  this  time,  till  Joe  be- 
gan to  whistle  ;  and  that  brought  the  terrier  jump- 
ing and  barking  as  frantically  as  before ;  but  the 
little  boy  didn't  put  in  an  appearance. 

In  a  minute  more,  we  came  to  the  branch  we  had 
noticed  when  coming  up,  which  made  away  to  the 
left ;  and  we  had  a  notion  to  see  where  it  would 
bring  us  out.  It  was  pretty  narrow  at  first,  hardly 
room  for  us  to  push  along  ;  but  it  grew  a  little  wider 
as  we  went  on,  so  we  could  just  about  get  'round 
the  first  bend. 

Then  the  course  was  nearly  straight  for  some 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  347 

distance.  The  current  was  almost  at  a  stand-still  ; 
we  sounded,  and  found  it  over  six  feet  deep.  On 
turning  a  corner,  we  pushed  out  into  a  little  lake,  all 
hidden  away  there  in  the  woods.  The  banks  grew 
higher  toward  the  other  side,  fifteen  or  twenty 
boat-lengths  off,  and  there  they  were  sheer  rock,  ris- 
ing from  the  water  ten  feet  or  more.  There  was  a 
little  rocky  island,  pretty  well  across  from  where  we 
were  ;  the  half-dozen  trees  on  it  were  all  twined  and 
matted  together  with  vines. 

We  couldn't  make  out  any  outlet,  and  it  seemed 
we  might  have  to  turn  back  ;  but  first  we  thought 
we'd  pull  to  the  island,  and  take  possession  of  it  in 
the  name  of  the  expedition.  There  were  plenty  of 
young  sassafras  shoots  sprouting  up  under  the 
trees,  and  we  pulled  up  a  few  of  the  most  promis- 
ing, as  trophies  of  discovery.  As  we  made  our 
way  across,  the  farther  bank  of  the  pond  came  in 
sight,  and  there  was  the  outlet !  the  island  had 
been  hiding  it  from  us. 

We  got  aboard  again,  and  pulled  around  into  it. 
After  several  windings,  it  narrowed;  and  the 
bushes  grew  across  so  thickly  we  could  scarcely 
force  our  way  through, —  but  there  was  still  a  cur- 
rent, and  it  must  lead  somewhere.  It  did;  —  one 
final  push  through  the  tangled  vines  and  shrub- 
bery, and  we  burst  out  into  the  main  stream,  oppo- 
site a  growth  of  willows;  and  just  above  we  saw 
two  large  rocks,  with  the  water  coming  through 
between,  and  flowing  around  at  the  sides,  too. 


348  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

We  knew  it  right  off,  for  the  place  where  we 
blundered  about  from  one  passage  to  another,  when 
trying  to  find  our  way  up.  This  time  we'd  dodged 
it,  and  might  have  before  if  we'd  known  how  ;  but 
the  entrance  was  so  overgrown  we  hadn't  noticed 
it  at  all ;  the  rocks  ahead  took  our  attention.  It 
seems  there  was  a  little  exploring  still  left  for  us, 
after  all. 

We  cleared  the  Triton  of  the  leaves  which  littered 
it  after  our  late  struggles,  and  floated  down  without 
further  adventure.  When  the  current  slackened, 
we  took  turns  in  rowing  for  short  spells  ;  the  stream 
was  now  wide  enough,  most  of  the  time,  for  the 
oars  to  be  handled  comfortably.  The  water  was 
somewhat  higher  than  when  we  came  up  ;  the  way 
we  found  that  out  was  by  the  oar's  hitting  a  log 
which  lay  jammed  across  a  little  under  water,  while 
we  were  going  through  a  piece  of  woods; — it  was 
the  one  where  Joe  had  pitched  overboard.  The 
boat  didn't  touch  at  all. 

A  little  after  eleven  o'clock  we  rounded  a  low 
point  overshadowed  by  some  large  willows,  and  saw 
the  hill  which  marked  Camp  Prospect  rising  beyond 
the  broad  green  fields,  and  looking  down  on  the 
sheet  of  water  at  whose  edge  our  tents  had  been 
spread  for  the  first  time.  When  we  had  seen  this 
spot  before,  it  was  at  sunset  and  sunrise  ;  now  at 
nearly  noon  the  shadows  were  shrunken  close  under 
the  trees,  instead  of  stretching  far  across  the 
meadows  ;  and  the  hot  rays  beat  down  from  over- 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  349 

head  on  the  bare  rocks,  and  the  sandy  slope  of  the 
wash-out,  and  on  the  yellower  sand  which  had 
pushed  out  into  the  water. 

"  Let's  have  a  swim  !  "  cried  Joe,  "  there's  no  bet- 
ter place  on  the  river  ! " 

He  was  right, —  the  water  was  warm,  and  the 
sandy  bottom  sloped  evenly  ;  it  was  as  good  as 
could  be, —  for  fresh  water  !  After  all,  there's  noth- 
ing like  the  "  briny,"  we  were  agreed  on  that. 
Still,  when  we  swam  under  the  shade  of  the  over- 
hanging willows,  and  clinging  to  their  tough  sprays, 
lay  on  our  backs  while  the  cool  current  played  be- 
neath and  swayed  us  about,  we  admitted  that  fresh 
water  had  some  attractions  of  its  own. 

Noon  at  last !  and,  on  the  hill  where  we  had 
supped  and  breakfasted,  we  ate  the  last  dinner  of 
the  expedition,  and  saw  once  more,  on  the  far  hori- 
zon, across  miles  of  air  quivering  in  the  mid-day 
heat,  the  familiar  spires  of  Pierhaven ! 

Then  we  were  off  again,  rounding  the  rocky  base 
of  the  hill ;  and  floated  without  a  scratch  over  the 
big  brown  rock  we  had  grazed  on  the  way  up.  Pres- 
ently the  cool,  shady  woods  were  again  around  us  ; 
we  were  in  no  hurry  to  leave  them  now,  but  floated 
easily  along,  slowly  dipping  the  oars. 

In  another  hour  we  came  to  the  broad,  willow- 
bordered  reach,  above  which  we  had  seen  the  first 
downward  current,  creeping  over  the  gravelly  shal- 
lows.    It  flowed  along  merrily,  now  ;  bearing  us  into 


35d  OUR  WEEK  APLOAf. 

the  little  pond;  from  the  edge  of  which  a  "stake- 
driver  "  or  bittern  flew  sluggishly  away,  so  near  that 
we  gould  see  the  dash  of  black  on  the  side  of 
his  neck.  When  the  stream  narrowed  again,  there 
was  still  a  decided  downward  current.  Of  course  we 
had  no  objections  to  that;  the  tides  were  neap  at 
this  stage  of  the  moon,  and  didn't  reach  so  far  up 
the  river. 

When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  stone  bridge,  with 
its  round  arch,  the  place  seemed  deserted; — no- 
body around,  not  even  the  dog.  The  boat  was 
gone  too  ;  we  wondered  if  it  had  been  washed  from 
its  moorings, —  but  we  met  it  a  little  beyond,  with 
the  same  children  in  it,  and  a  young  man  at  the 
oars,  while  the  Q-irl  sat  in  the  stern.  The  dog  was 
on  shore,  alongside ;  he  caught  sight  of  us  first, 
and  barked  in  welcome  —  or  the  other,  may  be, — 
but  most  likely  because  the  bark  was  in  him  ready 
wound  up,  and  he  was  glad  of  a  chance  to  let  it  out. 

The  stream  wasn't  very  wide  there,  and  we  hauled 
our  boat  ashore  and  waited  for  them  to  go  by.  We 
took  off  our  hats  to  the  girl,  and  she  asked  us  if  we 
found  "  Shad  Factory." 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  we  got  there  all  right." 

We  pushed  in  again  ;  the  dog  lingered  a  moment 
to  bid  us  good-bye,  and  then  we  dashed  ahead  of 
the  Kiltie  Clover,  as  she  made  her  way  up  and  dis- 
appeared under  the  arch  of  the  bridge. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

After  an  hour  or  so  of  pleasant  paddling  through 
the  meadows,  the  river  forked, —  and  on  the  point 
was  Joe's  pile  of  stones,  about  four  feet  above  water, 
with  the  stick  still  pointing  to  the  left ;  so  the  water 
didn't  rise  as  high  as  that,  when  it  poured  down 
after  the  rain.  It  came  more  than  half-way  to  it, 
though  ;  we  could  see  its  traces  quite  plainly  along 
the  steep  banks.  Joe  remarked  that  he  thought  he 
stacked  those  stones  nearer  the  water  than  that. 

As  we  moved  along,  we  certainly  could  see  the 
bottom  more  plainly  than  when  we  came  up  ;— per- 
haps the  flood  had  left  the  stream  clearer  than  be- 
fore. We  didn't  know  that  there  was  another  sur- 
prise awaiting  us  in  this  surprising  region,  but  we 
soon  found  it  out. 

There  was  a  faint  sound  of  rippling;  and  here 
were  jagged  points  and  edges  of  rock  at  the  sur- 
face, and  others  just  below  it.  These  were  the  same 
shallows  at  the  lower  end  of  the  island,  over  which 
we  had  found  ample  depth  for  our  passage,  a  few 
days  before.  How  could  this  be,  when  that  same 
day  we  had  surely  found,  at  places  farther  above, 
a  greater  depth  than  at  the  same  points  on  our  first 
day  ? 

"  Well  ;  this   is  the  contraricst  place  I  ever  came 

351 


35* 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 


across!"  exclaimed  Joe.  "  No  use  to  try  to  haul 
over  that,  it'll  rake  the  bottom  clean  off.  We've 
got  to  put  back  again,  and  circumnavigate  this  pre- 
cious island  a  second  time ;  I  believe  the  river  is 
bewitched  along  here,  after  all." 

But  I  saw  through  it,  now.  "Joe,"  said  I,  "don't 
you  know  that  'twas  running  up-stream  here  before, 
and  that  the  tide  filled  in  to  'way  above  that  bridge  ?" 

"  Sure  enousfh  !  "  he  answered.  "'Twas  flooded 
up  all  along  here  by  the  salt  water  coming  in  below. 
I  wish  'twas  now  ! " 

But  there  was  no  use  wishing,  so  we  headed  up 
stream  again  ;  this  time  with  quite  a  current  against 
us. 

"How's  the  tide  to-day,  anyhow?"  said  Joe. 
"  Let's  see, — last  Monday  it  started  to  come  in 
about  five  in  the  morning, — to-day  'twould  be  five 
hours  later;  ten  o'clock.  If  it  began  at  ten, 'twould 
be  high  water  at  four;  and  it  isn't  that  yet, — not  by 
more  than  half  an  hour.  It  ought  to  be  running 
up  here,  now." 

"  So  it  would,  if  'twas  new  moon,  as  it  was  then. 
The  neap-tide  don't  fetch  up  so  far,  it  seems." 

"  No,  that's  sure  enough ;  seeing's  believing. 
But  we  stand  a  chance  of  finding  where  they  do 
bring  up.  Our  down-stream  current  may  give  out 
any  time,  now." 

"  There's  another  thing  to  think  of,"  I  added  ; 
"  we  found  it  setting  up,  last  Monday,  long  after  it 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  SSJ 

must  have  started  to  go  out  at  Pierhaven.  'Twas 
a  regular  tidal  wave,  rolling  up.  So  it  may  reach 
even  here,  before  night." 

We  rounded  the  point,  and  floated  down  into 
the  chasm,  turned  the  angle  and  shot  past  the  water- 
fall ;  there  was  plenty  of  depth  on  this  side,  any- 
way. 

"  Let's  land  on  this  wonderful  island  !"  proposed 
Joe,  unexpectedly. 

"  All  right ;  and  we  ought  to  name  it,  too  ;  let's 
call  it  Bewilderment  Island  !" 

"  I  think  Blunderhead  Island  would  be  a  better 
name  !  the  way  we  have  bothered  and  fooled  round 
it !  "  said  Joe. 

We  made  fast  to  a  stout,  though  stunted,  oak, 
that  grew  out  of  a  cleft,  and  walked  up  along  the 
edge  of  the  fissure,  looking  down  into  its  dark, 
cool  depths.  It  seemed  deeper  than  it  did  from 
the  boat,  but  no  wider  ;  Joe  thought  he  could  jump 
it,  but  he  didn't  seem  to  think  it  worth  while  to  try. 
Here  came  the  little  stream  that  made  the  water- 
fall, racing  down  a  short  slope,  behind  which  it  was 
soon  lost  to  view  behind  the  trees. 

This  island  is  mostly  rock,  all  jagged  and  split, 
with  steps  and  shelves,  big  cracks  and  jutting  points. 
The  coating  of  earth,  held  together  by  stiff  grasses 
and  tough  bushes,  grew  thicker  toward  the  middle, 
where  the  oaks  and  "pig  nut"  hickories  drove 
their  roots  down  into  the  seams,  and  made  the  most 
of  the  soil  which  had  filled  the  hollows.    The  growth 

23 


354  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

was  pretty  thick  for  such  an  unpromising  berth,  and 
when  we  had  climbed  to  what  we  judged  was  the 
highest  point,  the  view  didn't  amount  to  much. 
Even. the  river  was  out  of  sight.  We  could  see  the 
edge  of'  the  chasm,  for  a  few  feet,  but  no  water ; 
there  was  nothing  to  show  that  we  were  on  an 
island. 

Two  or  three  cicadas  or  "  locusts  "  were  answer- 
ing each  other  around  us,  their  machine-like  buzz 
tapering  suddenly  off,  and  ending  with  a  few  scat- 
tered scrapes  and  catches. 

"  It  sounds  as  though  your  Waterbury  had  let 
go  all  holds,  and  was  letting  itself  run  out ! " 

"  If  she  did,  I'd  back  her  to  outlast  most  of  'em  !  " 
he  answered  ;  "  but  there's  one  but  this  way  that 
kept  it  up  a  minute  ago  long  enough  to  tire  out 
two  or  three  watches." 

"  I  noticed  it,  too  ;  and  it  sounded  different  from 
the -others.  Let's  see  if  we  can  get  a  glimpse  of 
It. 

So  we  went  forward,  peering  among  the 
branches ;  we  hadn't  made  four  steps,  when  it 
struck  in  again,  loud  and  sharp. 

"That  doesn't  come  from  the  trees, —  it's  in  the 
grass " ;  and  he  turned  a  little  to  the  left.  I  fol- 
lowed closely,  scrutinizing  the  grass  and  weeds. 
Bump  !  came  Joe  into  me  with  a  backward  spring, 
and  down  I  went,  rolling  a  little  way  along  the 
slope,  and  bringing  up  in  a  clump  of  junipers. 

"Gracious,  Joe!  what  in  time's  the  matter  with 


"NOW,"  CRIED  JOE  ;  AND  WE  BROUGHT  DOWN  THE  STICKS  WITH 
ALL  OUR  FORCE. 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  357 

you, —  want  to  trundle  me  into  the  river?  a  little 
more,  and  I'd  cracked  my  head  against  that  rock  !  " 

He  said  nothing  ;  he  had  stopped  a  little  beyond 
me,  and  was  looking  toward  where  we  started 
from  ;  I   could  see  he  was  scared,  and  no  fooling. 

"  What  is  it, —  a  hornet's  nest  ?"  and  I  scrambled 
up  ;  but  I  couldn't  think  hornets  would  ever  have 
made  Joe  as  pale  as  that.  He  shook  his  head, 
looked  around  a  moment,  and  began  cutting  a 
good-sized  stick. 

"  Oh,  it's  a  snake  !  —  isn't  it  ?  " 

''  Yes, —  it's  a  snake  !  "  he  whispered,  glancing 
up -where  the  cicada  had  been  sounding;  it  was 
still  now,  perhaps  the  snake,  too,  had  been  after  it. 

"  Well,  Joe,  if  anybody'd  told  me  a  snake  could 
scare  you  like  this,  I  wouldn't  have  believed  'em ! " 

"You  just  wait!"  He  cut  another  heavy  stick 
and  gave  it  to  me.  "  Now  come  on, —  and  keep  a 
good  look-out ! " 

V  I'll  look  out  iox you!"  I  returned  ;  "  I'm  more 
afraid  of  you,  than  the  snake  !  " 

Up  we  stole  cautiously,  I  keeping  out  of  his 
range.  The  cicada  started  his  noise, —  and  at  the 
same  instant  I  saw  the  snake!  His  thick,  yellowish 
body,  spotted  with  brown,  was  curled  in  a  coil, — 
and  his  tail  was  raised,  and  all  a-whir! 

It  was  my  turn  to  jump,  now;  but  I  didn't  tum- 
ble. Joe  motioned  me  around  opposite,  and  I 
crept  up  within  striking  distance.  The  snake's 
head  was  on  guard,  raised  and  rigid ;  and  I  knew 


358  O  UR  WEEK  AELOA  T. 

that    the    snapping-turtle's    iron-jawed    front    was 
bland  innocence  itself,  to  this  one  ! 

>."Now!"  cried  Joe;  and  we  brought  down  the 
sticks  with  all  our  force.  The  snake  shot  out  at 
Joe,  nearly  half  its  length  ;  he  sprang  back,  and 
the  reptile  jerked  itself  into  position  again.  Our 
blows  had  interfered  a  little,  and  the  end  of  my 
cudgel  hit  a  stone  on  the  farther  side,  so  the  snake 
didn't  get  the  full  benefit.  We  let  drive  again,  and 
hit  him  fair ;  and  now  we  hammered  away  for  a 
minute  in  a  perfectly  frantic  fashion  ;  before  we 
were  half  through,  he'd  had  enough. 

We  were  all  "  beat  out  "  ourselves  ;  so  weak-  and 
shaky  we  could  hardly  walk  straight  ;  but  we 
wanted  to  get  off  that  island  by  the  shortest  cut. 
We  didn't  have  any  idea  how  big  it  really  was,  till 
we  had  made  our  way  back  over  the  jagged  and 
slippery  rocks  to  our  boat — looking  sharp  before 
every  step,  shaking  in  our  shoes  at  every  cicada 
note.  Joe  had  the  snake  swinging  across  the  end 
of  his  stick  ;  he  only  dropped  it  four  times  on  the 
way,  and  we  tucked  it  away  in  the  bow ; — and 
may  be  we  weren't  glad  to  cast  off  and  go  gliding 
down  the  current,  with  clear  open  water  all 
around  us  ! 

"Say!"  said  Joe,  "we  know  what  the  name  of 
this  island  is,  now  !" 

And  we  did.  Need  I  say  that  to  us  the  name 
will  always  be  —  "Rattlesnake  Island!  " 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

About  the  time  that  the  old  brick-sheds  came  in 
sight,  as  we  moved  down,  we  noticed  that  the  cur- 
rent was  getting  slower  ;  and  when  we  got  to  the 
place  where  Joe  had  astonished  the  cows  with  the 
strange  tricks  of  the  umbrella,  it  was  at  a  standstill. 
In  another  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  upward  move- 
ment could  be  plainly  .seen  ;  we  were  once  more 
within  the  sway  of  the  salt  tides. 

Now  came  the  long,  monotonous  oxbows  of  the 
lower  river ;  we  pulled  around  them,  one  after 
another,  relieving  each  other  at  the  oars  by  twenty- 
minute  spells.  During  most  of  the  day,  the  wind 
had  blown  freshly  from  northwest  and  west ;  but  now 
it  was  oroincr  down.  The  sun  was  o-ettin^  low,  and 
was  now  hidden  by  long,  fleecy  cloud-bands. 

"  There's  the  grind-stone  ! "  said  Joe,  who  was  then 
at  the  steering-oar.  But  there  was  now  no  question 
of  cutting  across ;  the  ground  was  at  least  a  foot 
above  water.  The  grass  was  all  mown  short,  and 
standing  about  in  haycocks  ;  at  the  farther  side  of 
the  great  bend,  four  men  were  busy  raking  and  pitch- 
ing it  on  a  larger  heap  at  the  very  edge  of  the  bank. 

When  we  got  around  there,  we  found  this  heap 
was  afloat,  —  that  is,  a  scow  was  lying  close  in  to  the 
shore,  and  they  were  heaping  the  hay  on  it,  as  they 

359 


36o  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

would  on  a  cart;  and  like  a  cart,  there  were  stakes 
around  the  edge,  to  hold  the  hay  on.  In  this  way 
they  could  gather  the  load  from  each  side  of  the  river. 

We  floated  along  close  by  them,  and  they  looked 
at  us  ;  one  of  them  saw  the  snake  lying  up  forward, 
and  of  course  at  that  he  hailed  us  ;  and  then  we  had 
to  stop  and  tell  all  about  it.  Well,  we  didn't  mind 
at  all  lettino-  them  know  we  had  killed  a  rattle- 
snake  ;  that  sort  of  game  isn't  brought  around  every 
day.  We  were  heroes  in  a  small  way,  for  those 
few  minutes  we  lay  alongside  that  hay-boat ;  and 
there  wasn't  much  haying  done  meanwhile. 

They  looked  the  beast  all  over,  counted  his  rat- 
tles— nine — and  made  more  fuss  over  him  than  he'd 
ever  had  made  while  hej  was  alive  ;  but  then  it  often 
is  that  way.  And  we  knew  this  was  only  the  begin- 
ning of  it,  too.  One  of  the  men  said  rattlers  "  use- 
ter"  be  found  in  that  ledge,  long  ago;  but  he'd 
never  seen  one, — thought  they'd  all  died  out,  by 
this  time. 

At  last  we  pulled  ahead,  and  the  men  went  back 
to  their  raking.  We  went  round  and  round  the 
great  bends,  east,  west,  south  and  sometimes  north, 
till  the  sun  began  to  dip  behind  the  trees,  away  up 
on  the  western  slope.  The  little  half-moon  was  high 
among  the  fleecy  clouds,  and  looked  as  nearly  as 
might  be  like  a  piece  of  one  of  them  ;  she  was  grow- 
ing brighter  and  brighter  as  we  came  to  the  fence 
where  we  made  our  first  cut-off.     We  didn't  haul 


O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T.  363 

across  at  this  place,  either; — for  one  thing,  we 
weren't  in  much  of  a  hurry  ;  for  we  couldn't  get 
home  before  dark,  now,  anyway ;  and  we  were  feel- 
ing rather  tired  and  lazy,  besides.  When  we  found 
how  long  it  took  to  pull  around,  we  almost  wished 
we  had  made  the  short-cut ;  but  any  how  we  got 
there,  and  there  weren't  any  more  bends  as  bad  as 
that  one. 

It  was  a  little  past  eight  o'clock  when  we  floated 
under  the  shadow  of  Wylie's  bridge,  and  out  again 
into  the  broad  river,  with  our  homeward  path  traced 
before  us  by  the  moonbeams,  in  a  long  stretch  of 
glittering  ripples.  A  little  breeze  had  sprung  up 
from  the  north ;  we  spread  our  sail,  and  went  glid- 
ing along  in  salt  water  once  more,  with  our  last  two 
miles  lying  straight  before  us,  and  the  shores  far 
and  dim  on  either  hand.  The  Triton  was  already 
at  home  ;  this  was  what  she  was  used  to, — instead 
of  pushing  through  overhanging  boughs,  and  scrap- 
ing over  snags  and  gravel  by  day,  and  staying  on 
shore  for  a  sleeping  apartment  by  night.  But  she 
had  behaved  well ;  we  had  no  fault  to  find. 

I  mentioned  something  of  this  to  Joe  ;  and  he 
said,  "I  know  one  thing; — the  Triton  never 
dreamed  of  coining  back  as  a  traveling  den  of  rep- 
tiles, did  she  now?" 

"Pshaw-haw!"  I  laughed. 

"  Well,  isn't  it  so  ?  Alligator  astern,  and  rattle- 
snake up  in  bow  !     Tell  you  what !  nobody  else'13 


364  O  UR  WEEK  AFLOA  T. 

ever  want  to  explore  this  river,  when  they  see  the 
sort  of  things  we  fetch  home  !  " 

"Well,  that's  all  right, — we'll  be  the  original  and 
only  explorers  ! " 

When  we  passed  the  bridge,  we  noticed  that  the 
current  was  flowing  downward,  and  so  we  had  it 
with  us  as  well  as  the  wind,  which  just  filled  the 
sail.  The  lights  of  Pierhaven  began  to  show,  and 
we  could  dimly  make  out  those  final  bridges  which 
were  the  gateway  to  the  well-known  harbor.  The 
last  train  came  down  from  the  city  ;  it  slowed  up  as 
it  crossed,  a  silent  line  of  lighted  windows,  some 
bright,  some  faint ;  then  the  hollow  roar  came  to 
us  across  the  water,  and  the  clouds  of  sparks  rushed 
from  the  smoke-stack  as  they  put  on  steam  at  the 
farther  side. 

Now  we  began  to  hear  another  roar ;  it  grew  in 
distinctness  to  our  ears,  as  the  tall,  black,  interlock- 
ing timbers  of  the  draw  did  to  our  eyes. 

"  It's  going  it!  "  said  Joe.  "  Must  be  about  half 
out." 

We'd  have  thought  nothing  of  it  by  daylight ;  I'd 
often  "shot"  the  bridges  alone,  but  not  when  the 
tide  was  at  its  most  violent  stage.  We  couldn't  see, 
yet,  what  it  was  amounting  to  now  ;  by  the  time  we 
could,  there'd  be  no  turning  back. 

"It's  bright  moonlight!"  said  Joe;  "we  know 
what  the  Triton  is  ;  if  she's  stood  what  she  has  up 
there,  she  can  carry  us  through  this.  I'll  take  the 
oars,  and  you  steer !  " 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  363 

So  I  rolled  up  the  sail,  unstepped  the  mast,  and 
lashed  them  securely  together  ;  then  I  stowed  them 
carefully  in  the  boat,  went  to  the  stern,  and  grasped 
the  steering-oar.  We  now  drifted  quietly  with  the 
current ;  not  very  fast,  it  seemed, —  but  the  railroad 
bridge,  now  not  far  off,  was  rapidly  growing  larger 
and  closer. 

I  pointed  her  straight  for  the  middle  of  the  wide 
opening.  Now  it  was  close  by  ;  through  it  I  could 
see  the  farther  bridge,  with  a  few  black  and  white 
figures  leaning  against  the  rail;  —  now  we  were 
sweeping  under  ;  this  was  nothing, —  the  carriage 
bridge,  with  its  narrower  spans,  was  the  tug.  We 
heard  some  girls'  voices  exclaiming,  above  the  roar, 
as  we  emerged  from  the  shadow, —  and  forgot  it 
next  moment,  as  we  saw  the  white  spray  leaping  in 
the  moonlight  beyond. 

But  we  were  in  for  it.  I  felt  the  sharp  eddies 
fighting  around  the  oar-blade, —  "Row,  Joe,  row! 
and  give  her  steerage-way!"  Here  the  dark  pas- 
sage came  yawning  toward  us ;  in  a  moment  we 
swooped  down  through  it  on  the  mighty  black  swell. 
Then  up  shot  the  bow  on  the  foaming  crest  at  its 
foot ;  down  it  pitched  on  the  other  side,  scooping 
up  the  water ;  the  spray  dashed  over  us,  the  boat 
was  thumped  and  buffeted  by  the  white,  boiling 
knots,  the  oars  were  jerked  this  way  and  that, —  the 
craft  was  beyond  control  as  we  whirled  helplessly 
along ! 


j66  OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT. 

In  half  a  minute  it  was  over, — we  were  through. 
The  foam-wreaths  were  quietly  swirling  and  melt- 
ing away  around  us  ;  the  roar  was  far  behind, 
growing  less  and  less  ;  the  bridges  showed  dim  and 
distant  in  the  moonbeams.  We  looked  over  our 
things ;  they  were  all  there,  snake  and  all ;  though 
he'd  had  a  Q;ood  dash  of  salt  water,  like  the  rest  of 
us. 

"  I  wouldn't  have  lost  that  beauty  for  ten  dol- 
lars ! "  said  Joe. 

There  were  gallons  of  water  on  board,  and  we 
took  our  cups  and  set  quickly  to  work  to  bail  it 
out,  setting  the  bags  on  the  thwarts.  Some  of  it 
must  have  washed  through  around  the  edge  of  the 
locker  door,  and  given  our  turtle  his  first  taste  of 
the  briny  sea  ;  but  he  never  said  a  word  as  to 
whether  he  liked  it  or  not. 

"  Look  out !  "  suddenly  cried  Joe  ;  "  we're  almost 
on  Bowers'  Island  !  " 

How  the  current  had  been  hurrying  us  along ! 
for  all  it  seemed  so  quiet  after  we  got  out  of  the 
turmoil. 

We  pulled  around,  and  passed  the  island  ;  and 
just  then  the  bell  of  the  Drummond  Mill,  opposite, 
pealed  out  nine  strokes,  sharp  and  clear.  Then 
the  clock  of  St.  Stephen's  Church,  half  a  mile  away 
in  the  town,  struck  in  turn,  with  deeper  and  slower 
tones.  Another  moment,  and  the  heavy  Presby- 
terian  bell  boomed   out, —  not   striking  the  hour, 


OUR  WEEK  AFLOAT.  367 

but  sounding  the  regular  five-minutes'  course,  which 
it  rang  daily,  at  noon  and  at  nine  in  the  evening. 
I  would  know  those  bells  in  Chinese  Tartary, — 
was  it  only  a  week  since  we  heard  them  ? 

We  were  passing  the  wharves; — there  was  the 
wharf;  there  were  people  standing  on  it;  —  and 
voices  that  we  knew  right  well  hailed  our  little  ex- 
pedition, as  it  drew  closely  in  to  the  moorings. 

I  suppose  I  could  take  up  some  more  time  tell- 
ing how  cousin  Albert  stuffed  our  snake  as  natural 
as  life,  and  how  it  set  us  up  among  the  fellows 
more  than  a  brevet  major-generalship  would  have 
done;  and  how  they  pestered  and  "monkeyed" 
with  our  snapping-turtle  till  it's  a  wonder  that  some 
of  them  are  whole  yet ;  and  how  he  got  away  at 
last,  and  no  girl  on  the  street  would  go  out  after 
dark  for  a  week;  and  how  long  it  was  after  I  got 
home  before  I  got  the  letter  I  wrote;  —  but  I've 
done  what  I  set  out  to  do:  to  tell  how  we  explored 
the  river, —  and  I'll  stop  with  that. 

I  will  say,  though,  that  Joe  and  I  have  got 
through  with  fresh-water  exploring,  for  the  present. 
Not  that  it  wasn't  as  jolly  a  week  as  we  ever  had  ; 
but  we  like  change,  and  luckily  we  live  where  we 
can  have  it.  So  when  the  Triton  takes  another 
long  cruise,  it'll  be  down  the  bay,  and  not  up  the 
Pequonset  River. 


